Non-Volvo car chat megathread

[volvolugnut]

Lugnut, what do you know about the Merc 240D from the 70's? There's a whole range as I understand it - 220D, 240D, 250 with the straight 6 gas... Then the W123 replacement came out in about '76 I think.

I have a young niece who out of all the things a teenager could pick, said she really likes the 240D (!) Impressive. My wife's brother had a 220 in grad school, long gone. Many retired German taxicabs spent a second career in Africa. They were tough.

I've seen "collectors" on Hemmings for 15 to 20K, I've seen Craigslist cars with a blown motor for $600.

Remember the cool two-tone ones with the contrasting roof?

Mercedes_Benz_250_at_Versailles.jpg

My idle fleet includes (wait for it!) a 240D with 4 cylinder diesel and 4 speed manual transmission. It is 1981 and W123 model. I drove it to work a year or so about 2009. Fun to drive but not fast. This one could run again without much work.

I have about as many Mercedes as Volvos....

volvolugnut

[BlackBart]

Not fast is the perfect teenager car.

She's going to take Beginning Auto in HS next year.

[matthew1]

I drove a 300D in 1987 and it was slow. Mindbendingly, time-warpingly, reality-bendingly slow. But it was one of the many small revelations I’ve cataloged in my driving life: the throttle was so gradual and wonderful. Not at all like American cars where the first 50% of gas pedal travel is 90% of the actual throttle input.

The other controls were likewise very accurate and had amazing, tactile feedback.

[BlackBart]

Mindbendingly, time-warpingly, reality-bendingly slow.

[BlackBart]

Cleaning / marking joints / disassembling. Nice that these u-joints have zerk fittings and circlips, rather than being staked in.

IMG_0415.JPG (1 MiB) Viewed 360 times

[abscate]

Are these more Alfalfa parts ??

[BlackBart]

Barley, alfalfa, the usual...

Just ordered all the driveshaft bits from Classic Alfa in the UK. Very good supplier.

[matthew1]

Mindbendingly, time-warpingly, reality-bendingly slow.

On one hand, this was the 80s, when all cars were slow. So for this to be apparent to me then was something I noted at the time, as you can tell from me recalling it 35 years later.

On the other, I think I was expecting more ooomph because it was a very expensive, beautiful MB, and weren't expensive Germans cars supposed to be fast(er)? I think there was some psychological trickery in this regard, and it probably wasn't actually slow by the standards of the day.

[BlackBart]

I think the 220D / 240D were intended to last forever in the early 70s as German taxis, so they were smooth, nice shifting, strong, reliable, and made for torque. My wife's parents had a Peugeot 504 diesel wagon when I met her. V E R Y slow, but a ton of torque and very smooth.

[scot850]

My first drive in an auto trans car was a Peugeot 504 wagon fully loaded with people and luggage. I recall it actually being a good car to drive and comfortable and surefooted.

Sure it was not a diesel, it was not hugely fast but cornered well so the trick was keeping the momentum!

Neil.