This car doesn’t need any further introduction. Well, this specific example does, but certainly not the legendary Mercedes-Benz 124-series as a whole. The Benz I caught, left the factory as a Kombi (wagon) and was later converted into a two-seater cargo van.
The Kombi was imported into the Netherlands in 2003. Back then, it got a special (mal)treatment, resulting in a registration as a commercial vehicle.
A raised roof, blinded windows, rear seats out and a flat cargo floor in return…and your turbodiesel delivery van is ready to hit the road. The number 300 in the model designation still did justice to the engine-displacement: a 147 DIN-hp, 3.0 liter inline-six.
By the way, anyone happens to know the color code?
The Mercedes-Benz 124-series:
Curbside Classic: Mercedes W124 (1985-1996 E-Class) The Best Car Of The Past Thirty Five Years by Paul N.
I’ve heard of that tax treatment having been dealt to many unlikely victims, but create a loophole and watch people exploit it. Somebody must’ve really wanted that car, because that’s probably $2,000 of modifications to what was already a 9 year old car. Add that it’s no longer the same, and I can no longer quite understand why bother. Is this going to be the solid feeling quiet executive transport after a roof cut, a fiberglass topper, and gutted interior? I like how it has the vented fenders of the high performance model.
If I had to guess the paint code, it’d be Kreidebrett.
…”already a 9 year old car”…I think that younger 124-series Kombis were still too expensive to cut up, back then. Used Volvo wagons also got that treatment. But all in all, such wagon-to-van conversions always stayed rare. Unlike (new) diesel-SUV modifications. Very common, then and now.
Back to the 124. There used to be a café at a short distance from my house. Around 2000 or so, it was more of a clubhouse for local contractors, demolishers and their crew members. Big guys, even to Dutch standards, with a firm hands-on-mentality.
Guess what these gentlemen preferred to drive? Correct: a used, Benz 124-series five- or six cylinder (turbo) diesel. All sedans, so the W124.
Heck, even the owner of the café had one. A 300 TD, a bit lowered, same rims as the one in the article and with a dual exhaust. I loved it when it roared away or arrived at the scene!
Oh yes, you might be right about the paint code…
Peak Mercedes wagon right there and those wheels are the definitive ones of that era for MB (well, besides the AMG Monoblocs). I kind of like the high roof treatment, around here it would have a roof box on top of that and maybe an attachment for carrying the kayak(s).
The color is in the realm of the cobwebby windows “I see dead people” gestalt.
Yes, those Benz rims are just perfect. The car’s sinister looks and the distinctive inline-six-diesel-rumble go together very well, I must say.
My understanding is that 1993 was the last year for the 300 TD. Might this be a 250 TD?
They were still offered in 1995/1996, according to this (scroll down, “Sechszylinder Dieselmotoren” ausklappen):
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_Baureihe_124
The car’s registration confirms the 300’s engine-displacement, number of cylinders and power rating.
So much for relying on Wikipedia meaning the English language one. It shows 1993 as the last year, and I’m quite certain that certainly was the case in the US. Only the 250 turbo diesel was offered here those last couple of years.
A big plus of German Wikipedia, when the subject is a German vehicle, is the frequent use of very comprehensive charts with engine data (both gasoline and diesel, naturally).
So far, comparing the Dutch registration data with these charts always resulted in a full match.
That is correct.
I often expanded the American Wikipedia pages for German vehicles by incorporating the charts and such from German Wikipedia. I also have auto motor und sport Auto Katalog and other sources to check for any disperancies or additional information.
One thing that frustrates me the most is some contributors inserting “sources needed”, “citations needed”, etc. since they cannot read German and assumed that I had “made up” the stuff. Some became hostile toward me when I merely pointed out the German Wikipedia as source along with the links pointing to the sources in German language. Geesh…
These little fellows taught me German, from the early seventies onwards. German and also Swedish TV-shows for children were the best.
ARD, ZDF and WDR were the channels our roof-antenna could pick up, since we live close to the border.
Johannes – The use of the noun “van” in the title caught my eye. The big wagons in Japan were also vans when they became basic work cars. I know Mercedes never intended to sell the W124 as a “van” but neither Toyota nor Nissan had any qualms about the same car as their luxury wagon also being marketed as a “van”. We’ve seen those from T87 and now as the sometimes imported JDM used cars.
A W124 to me still seems like a very desirable, high quality luxury car. But I know that in Europe it has often been a hard worker – usually with a diesel engine and manual transmission. On a short working trip to Hamburg in 2006 a W124 wagon owned by the business we went to see picked us up at the airport and another W124 taxi took us back there a couple days later. I also remember the white W124s often used by American Mercedes dealership technicians for service calls – later sold to customers (like my wife’s parents) as used cars.
Plenty of 124-series Benzes are still around, of course. Keep in mind that the whole continent was once flooded with these, especially diesel sedans.
Very good ones are now doing somewhere between € 15,000 and € 20,000. Even with a 4-cylinder, like this coupe you’ll like.
Source and more:
http://ruylclassics.nl/ClassicCars/mercedes-230ce-w124-sept-1988/?taal=EN
Another thing is that the Japanese “vans” retained full glazing and rear seats, they were very much just plain-jane station wagons.
Dutch tax laws lead to some oddities. In most of the world the Landrover Defender 130 crew cab has an actual wheelbase of 130″ and a separate cargo bed like a Landrover High Capacity Pickup. In the Netherlands the Defender 130 crewcab was made by Special Vehicles and had a full 130″ wheelbase and and an integral cargo bed like a regular 110 truck cab because Dutch law required a certain percentage of the load area to be ahead of the rear axle.
Does everyone know something I don’t? I’m perplexed by the treatment on painted surfaces and rear side windows of that wagon. What is it? Pardon my brain drain in advance
As for the rear side windows, these were blinded anyway (as in 100% blinded). One of the requirements for a transition to a commercial vehicle.
For the rest, it’s fully up to the owner whatever he wants to do with it, as long as the vehicle meets all legal criteria. Which it does.
This is my old Benz. I bought it in 2003 in Germany from the first owner. It is a 6 cilinder 12 valve with a turbo. Avantgarde version. Did the roof conversion to drive it as a van. Did 225000 kilometers in it. Sold it in 2008. Still pain in my heart. This was a monster car. The most luxury type you could get. And it was my first real car.
Good to hear from you! The 300 TD was a beast in its days, with its deep and steady 6-cylinder rumble. I liked them then and I still do now.
de mercedes is helaas verongelukt. henk jansen
Jammer! Geen persoonlijk letsel, hoop ik.