{"id":48948,"date":"2023-05-05T00:03:27","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T04:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=48948"},"modified":"2023-05-05T00:03:27","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T04:03:27","slug":"junkyard-gem-1980-mercedes-benz-300td-wagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=48948","title":{"rendered":"Junkyard Gem: 1980 Mercedes-Benz 300 TD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoblog.com\/2022\/12\/12\/benz-patent-motorwagen-driving-the-first-car\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:0;\">Carl Benz&#8217;s first car in 1885<\/a> through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoblog.com\/mercedes_benz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:1;\">right now<\/a>, one Mercedes-Benz product has by far the strongest reputation for reliability and build quality: <a href=\"https:\/\/group-media.mercedes-benz.com\/marsMediaSite\/en\/instance\/ko\/Effortless-superiority-123-series-1975-to-1985.xhtml?oid=9361540\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:2;\">the W123<\/a>, ancestor of the E-Class. Diesel-engined W123s became legendary for running\u00a0<em>forever<\/em>, and so many of these cars have had no problem staying in everyday service that it takes them until <em>now\u00a0<\/em>to wear out and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.murileemartin.com\/Junkyard\/JunkyardGallery-Mercedes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:3;\">show up in car graveyards<\/a>. Today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.murileemartin.com\/JunkyardGalleryHome.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:4;\">Junkyard Gem<\/a> is one of those cars, an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.autominded.net\/brochure\/mercedes\/1983%20MB%20Full%20Line%20Pg12-13.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:5;\">extremely sensible 300 TD station wagon<\/a> that showed up in a California wrecking yard last summer.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"grp-full\" src=\"https:\/\/o.aolcdn.com\/images\/dims3\/GLOB\/legacy_thumbnail\/1200x675\/format\/jpg\/quality\/85\/https:\/\/s.aolcdn.com\/os\/ab\/_cms\/2023\/03\/26181650\/07-1980-Mercedes-Benz-300TD-in-California-junkyard-photo-by-Murilee-Martin.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s tough to find gauge clusters in these cars in California boneyards, because eBay sellers tend to grab them within days (or even hours) of their appearance in a yard&#8217;s inventory. This car still had its cluster, so we can see that it traversed 254,624 miles during its 42 years of existence. Considering that I&#8217;ve found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoblog.com\/2020\/10\/18\/junkyard-gem-1981-mercedes-benz-300sd-with-almost-600k-miles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:6;\">discarded Stuttgart oil-burners with well past 500,000 miles on the clock<\/a>, a mere 254k just qualifies as\u00a0<em>respectable<\/em> for one of these cars.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"grp-full\" src=\"https:\/\/o.aolcdn.com\/images\/dims3\/GLOB\/legacy_thumbnail\/1200x675\/format\/jpg\/quality\/85\/https:\/\/s.aolcdn.com\/os\/ab\/_cms\/2023\/03\/26181656\/12-1980-Mercedes-Benz-300TD-in-California-junkyard-photo-by-Murilee-Martin.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The turbocharged version of this engine wasn&#8217;t available in the United States until the 1981 model year, so what we&#8217;ve got here is a naturally-aspirated 3.0-liter OM617 five-cylinder, rated at 77 horsepower and 115 pound-feet. That&#8217;s right,\u00a0<em>seventy-seven<\/em> horsepower, in a car that weighed 3,635 pounds. You had to be patient when driving one of these machines. A couple of years after this car was sold, I took <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoblog.com\/2020\/10\/18\/junkyard-gem-1981-mercedes-benz-300sd-with-almost-600k-miles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:7;\">my driver training classes in a German car with just 48 diesel horsepower<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"grp-full\" src=\"https:\/\/o.aolcdn.com\/images\/dims3\/GLOB\/legacy_thumbnail\/1200x675\/format\/jpg\/quality\/85\/https:\/\/s.aolcdn.com\/os\/ab\/_cms\/2023\/03\/26181716\/35-1980-Mercedes-Benz-300TD-in-California-junkyard-photo-by-Murilee-Martin.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The successor to the W123 was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoblog.com\/2022\/11\/26\/junkyard-gem-1989-mercedes-benz-300e-sedan-with-almost-350k-miles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:8;\">the W124<\/a>, which was the first Mercedes-Benz model to get the E-Class designation (though not until 1993).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"grp-full\" src=\"https:\/\/o.aolcdn.com\/images\/dims3\/GLOB\/legacy_thumbnail\/1200x675\/format\/jpg\/quality\/85\/https:\/\/s.aolcdn.com\/os\/ab\/_cms\/2023\/03\/26181258\/25-1979-Mercedes-Benz-280E-in-Colorado-junkyard-photo-by-Murilee-Martin.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This one has faded paint, but the MB-Tex faux-leather upholstery inside still looks good.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"grp-full\" src=\"https:\/\/o.aolcdn.com\/images\/dims3\/GLOB\/legacy_thumbnail\/1200x675\/format\/jpg\/quality\/85\/https:\/\/s.aolcdn.com\/os\/ab\/_cms\/2023\/03\/26181705\/26-1980-Mercedes-Benz-300TD-in-California-junkyard-photo-by-Murilee-Martin.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Unlike so many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoweek.com\/car-life\/columns\/a36551014\/malaise-era-childhood-gas-lines-left-their-mark-forever\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-ylk=\"elm:context_link;itc:0;pos:1;sec:donut-hole;cpos:9;\">Malaise Era<\/a> junkyard cars that I find during my travels, this one looks like it didn&#8217;t spend decades sitting immobile in a yard or driveway. Instead, it was used as transportation until it wore out or just got too obsolete.<\/p>\n<lite-youtube videoid=\"oEki3OuDsiE\" data-thumbnail=\"\"\/>\n<p>Certainly the ideal car for the big family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Carl Benz&#8217;s first car in 1885 through right now, one Mercedes-Benz product has by far the strongest reputation for reliability and build quality: the W123, ancestor of the E-Class. Diesel-engined W123s became legendary for running\u00a0forever, and so many of these cars have had no problem staying in everyday service that it takes them until [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}