Sometimes it feels like I am the last person left in Alberta without ownership of at least one pickup. Full size trucks are definitely the go to vehicle in these parts with SUVs running close behind them. You’d think a full size truck for the husband and SUV for his lady is mandated by how many families follow this pattern. Our fellow citizens out east will often refer to Alberta as the Texas of Canada due to our oil industry and our seemly undying love for the pickup. As often seems to be the case I’m going against the grain and have no pickup or even *gasp* a SUV. We still have the occasional need to haul a load but our driveway only contains a fairly new compact hatchback and an elderly Mercedes sedan. I’ve been attempting to use to the Mercedes to its fullest potential so it has been my (slow) daily driver, cruiser, race car and now my pickup replacement.
First up is some light duty hauling of cardboard and paper to the recycling depot. For those of you not as familiar with the W114/W115 chassis cars they have an absolutely massive trunk that extends well past the lid right to the back of the seat.
After replacing three leaky toilets I had to dispose of the remains. While they would have physically fit into our hatchback Mazda there was no way I wanted to make the twenty kilometer or so drive sharing the same compartment with that smelly load. The big and rubber mat lined Benz trunk came to the rescue again as three toilets fit back there with ease. I won’t say the trip was completely odor free but it wasn’t too bad. The scales operator did mention that I was driving the classiest hauler he’d seen so far that day. A dubious achievement no doubt but I’ll take it.
Three toilets in and it didn’t even require the removal of the spare tire. Plenty of room back there. If I’d been a little more organized I could have filled the empty space.
Enjoy the scenery!
Sans toilets the scale weight corresponds pretty closely to the published numbers. For those who are metric challenged 1450kg is 3197lbs.
A little taste of rural Alberta on the drive home. I’m guessing those cows would be unimpressed with my “truck”.
The next task was clearing out the little pile scrap metal that had been cluttering up the garage. That blue bit of sheet metal was the remains of the 220D’s original and very rusty front fender. Thanks to the rust I was able to fold it quite flat. The bottle jack came with a car (’62 Beetle maybe) that I’d bought years ago and looked brand new but I had recently discovered didn’t work. Just over two hundred pounds of assorted crap that earned me something like six dollars. At least with a diesel that more than covers my fuel costs.
Since I gave the Mercedes a glamor shot at the dump I better do another one at the metal yard. As I was leaving a folk lift driving employee asked me if I felt like Scrooge McDuck driving it.
So while I didn’t create my own Benzamino car/truck hybrid I did get a few chores done that many around here would claim requires at least a half ton truck. All I need now is a set of big rig style exhaust stacks and a rear window sticker of Calvin peeing on a BMW symbol.
I’m curious, do you have curb side recycling bins? I only ask because it seems like it would be a waste of fuel with no monetary return to deliver the cardboard to the recycling station.
No curbside program here. In fact the city recently went from something like 15 smaller deports to 3 large ones making everyone drive a bit further to recycle. I try to combine the recycle with another trip out of the house so the fuel isn’t spend on just that.
That is very surprising indeed! I have to say I am great full for the bins I have because we generate lots of recyclables. We even have a giant yard waste container in an appropriate shade of dirt brown.
I says I needs one… 😛
But hey seriously, nice old Mercedes.
I never was a Mercedes nor diesel fan but I just love your car. The color and condition are just right for something I’d drive daily. It may sound like I’m blowing (oil) smoke but I’m not.
It is far from perfect but a classic car I’m certainly not afraid to use. One of my favorite cars I’ve ever owned actually.
I see from the label that’s a crappy tire bottle jack too. No surprise it doesn’t work, those things are like Kleenex. Use, grab another…
Good on you not having a pickup DS. Whilst camping in Pennsylvania this summer turns out we were doing it wrong. We’re the only ones in Little Pine State park with a Dodge Caravan / 8′ popup instead of a 40′ house pulled by an EE-NORMOUS pickup. Strangely, we were the only ones outside at night, everyone else was watching TV.
We are the next level down. We tent it! I took my boys on a family trip with their scouting group. We were one of the very few in a tent. Everyone seemingly had a massive trailer with A/C, plumbing, etc.
LOL on the poseur campers.
You’re telling me you wouldn’t camp in this?
Camp? Forget that, I’m selling my house and living in it!
You of all people here know I’d wear that thing out if I had one!
I still remember the summer weekend we camped at Lake Wenatchee, I think it was, with our 300L hardtop. The couple at the next campsite were camping out of a 1979 Firebird. They said it was a tight fit, but they had everything they needed.
Don’t worry, just keep on trucking. In its days a W115 diesel was our farmers’ and cattle dealers’ sweetheart. For some reason those Mercs were mostly mud colored.
You like eggs BTW ?
Your Mercedes is quite Curbside Classic-y. Is that the factory paint?
The colour is close to factory. I had to repaint it (although a bit poorly) when I replaced the front fender.
I love that car! I love everything about it. Thanks for giving us the Dave’s Mercedes update.
I’ve had wagons that I worked like that but never a sedan. Do you have any place you could store a small trailer. Keeps the smell outside and removes the need for a pickup.
Believe it or not I have seen one of these converted into a ute like the first picture. Dont need a pickup then!
Normally, I’m not much of a sedan type, but if the trunk is cavernous, then they can be useful for some things.
Still in all, I prefer hatchbacks, or a small trailer that I can attach to haul the smelly stuff.
That said, you can haul all kinds of odd sized stuff in a wagon/hatchback, as I’ve done in my Mazda Protege5, especially last year.
Sad thing is, I’ve have too many sedans in my life that didn’t even pretend to be even half as practical as your classic Merc’s trunk, so that turned me off of sedans.
As a regular at the local metal recyclers yard I somtime wounder why people stick small amounts of tin in their cars and drive the distance (here its an hour away from the sticks and a half an hour from the city) to the dump all to get usually less than ten dollars. To each their own but there are people yoy can call that will do it for free or as near as dosnt matter. The people that I really dont get are the bro truck driving guys who put the ten dollar load in their brand new pickup or suv and then have to spend half an hour unwrapping it from its protective wrapping before dumping it. Just last week I witnessed a guy in a brand new jeep suv with a bunch or blue ten gallon metal drums crammed into every avaliable space in that interior. There must have been 25 crushed drums in there. The best part if watching was when he was unloading and seeing that the where full or metal shavings and dust(like that which would come from a lathe). Watching him get ever more sour with each drum and the shaving that came out of it. I was at the cash out with the guy and he got $26.50 for his troubles. Like I said to each gheir own.
The first picture looks like a UFO.
Love your comment about the scale operator’s “classy car” observation. When my farm truck was down a couple winters ago, I hauled our trash to the landfill using Herbie and my small utility trailer. Now *that* got a laugh from the scale person! “Herbie : Fully Loaded,” indeed!
There is no blue bins or blue boxes there? and than they close some depots too? seems odd seeming as it seems many cites are trying to be green. sadly for many the cardboard and other recyclables would end up in the garbage probably not so much a unwillingness to recycle but the extra work and time and cost in fuel to recycle it.
However that car is really cool