My grandad still owns a 1971 220D, here in Cyprus. Cream colored one with beige leather interior. The sound of that clackity-clack engine starting still gets me smiling.
They use them as taxis in the old days probably still do I lived there for 3 years late sixties early seventies and remember asking a taxi driver why the Mercedes he told me he can always get parts for them
@@garychilds1130 Greek taxi driver Gregorios Sachinides from Thessaloniki drove 4.6 million kilometres in his /8 240 D. In 2004, he donated the car to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart and received a brand new taxi in return. It was a big topic in the German media at the time.
I had a 220 Diesel automatic early 70’s model, it used to be å taxi before I bought it. When I sold it after 8 years, it had passed 780000 km. The guy I bought it from bought it back, from me, redid the brakes, and his daughter used it as her first car. Amazing quality on those -8 Mercedes models. Thanks for showing.
Cor Tim's Mercedes is gorgeous! Love the tan interior with that light blue. Something about this era of Mercedes I just love. As a Beetle owner I can only look at that quarterlight control with envy. What a nice mechanism.
What a beauty looks really original love this era of Mercedes I worked on the later w123 w124 era cars back when Mercedes made and engineered great cars keep it original Tim it’s glorious
This brings back memories, my dad had a 220D from 1973-1982, in India. With its 50 ish HP it was king of the road. It had an oil sump protection and usually mounted larger tires for added ground clearance. Never any issues with it, its probably still running in Delhi now...BTW I wasn't allowed to drive it, only the Ambassador.
I remember having a special family trip to Scotland by train in the 70's. As a car mad kid, the best part & by pure chance was the 240D taxi to the station & I've been a fan ever since.
Had a 240D on order with the Taxi Pack that was an extra two plus grand for it, for pleather seats and rubber floor covering but did have reinforced seats, suspension, door locks and hinges and a stronger auto box and the wiring and mountings for the meter and the gearbox transponder for it, rooflight and radio. I paid another extra for a mid range sound system with a boot mounted 6 CD changer (a new invention then) and a leather drivers seat. Mountings for a security screen if needed included in the pack. A three month factory order, I had to cancel one month before delivery as wife sprang a divorce on me, buying a new Taxi might have gone against me in the settlement, luckily the dealer had another on order so he got his taxi two months early and I didn't lose my deposit. Everything like the basic radio and wheel trims was an extra above the list price on a Mercedes then as was my licensing authorities non metallic white paint colour.
I remember a family holiday on the small German island of Borkum in 1976, where tourists are not allowed to take their cars with them; they stay in large garages on the mainland. When we left and the taxi arrived for the 10-minute journey to the ferry, it was a W115 LWB, also known as a Pullman. As a 10-year-old boy, I was beside myself with excitement!
Brings back memories that W115! A friend of mine had one (240 D), slow as a snail, but the engine lived longer than the body. There is also a way of opening the bonnet like | instead of / - there's a little tab to stretch it further up.
Both my grandfather (on my Mum's side) as well as his son (my uncle) owned 1960''s model Mercedes 220 's. Designation is W111 I believe. My grandfather's had elongated vertical headlights and a vertical "strip" speedometer whereas my uncles had round headlights and a regular speedo. Also, my grandfather's had a front bench seat whereas my uncles had front bucket seats. Both cars had a column change. Those Mercedes as well as many of the ones in this video were very popular back in my country of birthplace, Egypt.
Always good to see a collaboration video with Tim, and I believe there's more to come on the subject of his beautiful blue Mercedes. I for one, can't wait for that. I'm sure the issues with the car will be in very capable hands, and all will be well. Thanks for a most welcome spin out, and another entertaining video. Best wishes to one and all.
Wundervoll! My second car was a 1972 W115 (/8) 200 D. Poverty spec. Nothing. Nothing but MB Tex seats. In the late eighties these cars were so cheap (and rusty). There have been two «gangs» in my village at Lake Constance: the Opel gang and the Diesel boys. It was a great time, we felt free, we had our big cars. Even for long trips to Biarritz for example… Thanks for this video and the memories. I’m curious for the following Mercedes adventures. These cars are timeless! See you ✨✨✨Martin
For a part of my younger life I was brought up in East Africa.........Malawi late 60's early 70's. There were two cars that stood out as the ultimate testament to driving across the dirt roads and weathering the often hot climate. The Mercedes of that era was one and the other was the Peugout 404. Both cars were bulletproof and could reliably entertain the local conditions.
This is what endeared me to Mercedes as a child. Understated elegance, the engineering and the overall quality. This is a beautifully kept example. I wonder whether modern day Benzes will have this kind of longevity.
I think it'll be the internal electronics that will be the death of many modern cars, unless enterprising people start either pulling the modules from scrappers to "preserve" them for future use or learn how to adapt them. I have this very problem with my 2004 BMW E60 - the specific ECU is no longer made.
"Oh have no worries, electronics have no moving parts so they will be sooo reliable" The 80/90's kept the promise, the industry probably got scared by all that longevity. Once they go wrong they'll remind you of 70's BL or Fiat.
Nice. Interior of this quite familiar to me. About 20 years ago, I owned a 1984 W123 240D. Loved the big handbrake lever on the right of the driver, as here. And also the vacuum operated central locking.
My dad had a silver Mercedes 280SE, 1968 iirc. The headlights were a bit more rounded at the top and the bottom than Tim’s car. Otherwise, it was very similar and this video brought back some good memories of driving around in it. My dad stripped a sparkplug thread and repaired it by glueing the plug in with Araldite.
These old school Mercedes-Benz s are glorious. 😎 Tim's car is lovely. Back in the early 1990s on my road there was a W108 parked for a few weeks. It was a sight to behold on a housing estate laden with 1980s Fords, etc.
Very nice car. The colour reminds me of my French Blue Triumph 2000 I had some years ago. Original paint but had to keep on top of it with the polish or it would dull. Great to have a company specializing in a particular range of old cars and keeping all the old parts vehicles tucked away so others can keep going. 👍🏻
Merry Christmas to you all and thank you for all of your super videos in 2024, i wish you all a very special New Year and look forward to more hub nut adventures in 2025
A six cylinder of these would be wonderful...and especially if it's in a good spec and condition like this one. Beautiful car. Am definitely looking forward to more on the car, even though it sounds like headaches..
Beautiful classic Benz. I remember seeing them as a taxi as well, but my actual taxi ride as a kid in the 80's was in Mercedes-Benz W123 diesel, an accident at school, so the school called a taxi for me to get me patched at the local health care center. Only a class mate with me for security measure, haha.
The local primary school used to get hot meals delivered by the local undertaker. Black W123 estate with wooden floor with chrome fittings. Surreal. They are in storage. The Fintails were bodied in Belgium they had 16 inch wheels where as the saloon had 14 inch wheels.
They had the limousine w123, estate and saloons as shiny black. They never sold cars they will be sitting in storage. Tried to buy his 2cv Charleston. Black and yellow.
Merc is gorgeous, and yes, you do need some Volvo in your life. For the oil burning issue on the merc, remove the oil filler cap with the engine running, if there is pressure in the rocker cover check the PCV system and breathers, failing that, pistons and rings are a suspect. A leak down test will reveal more than a compression check.
Love that Mercedes, great colour. I had a Y reg '83 Estate in that colour, I regret not keeping it but it needed a lot of money spending on it, managed to sell it for more than I paid for it though so that was a bonus.😉
Mercedes-Benz did some utterly crazy things that made absolutely no commercial sense back in days when they were engineer-led but created utterly fantastic cars. A corollary to the 300SEL 6.3 sharing its' engine with the 600 is the fact that the next generation of S-Class, the square '70s cars, continued this by having the, by now upgraded, 600 V8 in the 450SEL 6.9, the car James Hunt used to own. These factory hotrods in smart suits are frighteningly complex but a good one is a fantastic and huge fun drive. Personally I prefer the 6.3 because I adore the sinister, get out of my way pleb styling of the older car, especially in dark colours.
In Germany, we almost always refer to the W114 and W115 as the /8 (‘Strich Acht’) after their year of release, 1968. Some also call this model series the penultimate true Mercedes. The small diesels 200D and 220D were called Wanderdüne (shifting dunes). Thanks for showing!
Ian, regarding the overall gearing of the car, it is worth saying that South African examples of European cars from this period to the late '80s have much shorter gearing than European examples as the maximum speed limit was far lower than anywhere in Europe, so much so that when Practical Classics had a South African Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.5SC they discovered that it was absolutely screaming its' heads off in 5th gear at 65mph on the motorway. Putting a European gearbox in it restored sanity. I don't imagine finding a European gearbox and, probably, diff for the 220 should be too testing as they're renowned for being bomb-proof while W114/5 bodywork very much wasn't, but that would depend on how much of an issue the short gearing is. Initially I thought the demonstrated oil burning might just be a sign of left over lubricant oil from machining work performed on the head, but the fact that it is an issue that has been being pursued since Tim got the car makes me rather suspect that it might need a bottom end rebuild. The car will have gone through a long period where it wasn't really worth anything even in South Africa so maintenance may not have been as thorough as perhaps it should have been, plus, being as it is low mileage and a car engine that necessarily means a lot of time running on choke warming up, which means a lot of excess petrol wash in the bores which can strip the lubricating oil film leading to rapid excess wear in the bores. I fear this needs a rebore and new pistons and rings. The low mileage may well mean that the crankshaft won't need any work, just new shells, reducing the potential cost for machining work. The upside is that, with the head gone through, though it would be worth checking if it has hard valve seats suitable for unleaded, it would give the car pretty much a fresh engine ready for hundreds of thousands more miles.
5 cylinder Volvos, they just get under your skin! I'm nearly 5 years into my 2012 XC60 D5 AWD manual with no intention of changing any time soon. Had an old S60 D5 previously which I know is still on the road at 225,000 + miles. Ian, I can see you in an older (P3) V70, find a good example with the earlier 163bhp D5 (without adaptive rear suspension) and you've almost got a car for life!
Agree with the 5 pots. I have to say the earlier 850s have the best experience. Probably the 2.5 10V is the best one for longevity. P3 is very complex and has dpf, egr etc...
Absolutely gorgeous cars. All of them Edit : having the choice between that nice Volvo and that w115. I know which one I'd take. No brainer. Lovely Merc this! Irresistible
Despite coming from the land of the autobahn, where sustained cruising at speed was the norm, classic Mercedes were always criticised as being somewhat under-geared. I know that the six-cylinder 250 cars were available with a five-speed manual gearbox but this was a very rare option.
Love those cars. Back in the day nobody worried about revs at speed its just what cars were like, difference being the Mercedes was designed to be driven at wide open throttle.
When Mercedes were Mercedes… The German Humber! Do like these wonderful cars. Just think what fun it would be to by the Merc parked up in Cockfosters Road, Hadley Wood due to ULEZ!
In the late 90s early 00s my grandad had a metallic green 230E 6 pot with beige/cream leather immaculate upholstery with sheep wool covers had R129 wheels it looked lovely but started to developed rust on sills and he decided to sell it but believe me it was lovely to ride in
Lovely video,and lovely car. But it should not make such amount of tappety noise..and also such amount of oilconsumption after doing headwork,is not normal either. Looking forward to the next one. Greetings from Mercedes enthusiast youtuber,from Norway ,Stefan :)
I used to know a guy called John Billias, a Polish immigrant in West London who was THE guy for old Mercs. Bearded Mercedes Bloke probably knew him as well. The W114/5's a bit rot prone but a superbly engineered car as Mercedes were back then. They just felt like they'd run forever, entirely possible of course. The way to go with these and W123's is to use the 2.3 M111 and 5 speed from a rusty 20+ year old C or E Class. Powerful, ultra reliable and you'll buy the whole car for 500 quid.
In my head back in 1989 I was wanting to buy a Black early 70s Merc, 200D I think it was stack headlights and proper cool.. in reality I got a Mini as the insurance would have been very expensive as a 17 year old 🤣
When I was a lad, a 230.4 came to my dad via my grandad who’d always had auto jags. The Merc was manual, grandad used to try to just drive it around in 3rd all the time, failed, and handed it down to dad!
Makes me wonder if they bought the "pigeon guano'd" W123 200 that was in Gateshead about 13 or 14 years back, looked like a complete car (aside from a broken rear window), just covered in major ploppage from the birdies roosting in the rafters above it...
I always imagined my late father would have graduated to a W123 after his Mk. IV Zodiac. I do love this style of Merc with the stacked headlights though; but rather more staid than a BMW E3 by contrast, it has to be said.
@@HubNut I get the impression that early 70s Mercs were driven by businessmen in Germany, whilst the contemporary BMWs were the cars for bright young things - and unfortunately, got the 'Neue Klasse' cars the nickname of the 'Baader-Meinhof Wagen'...
Doesn't the Merc look small compared to modern cars, considering how big they were back in the seventies. But then the Super Snip/nipe/Snipe looks quite small when parked next to a MINI Countryman.
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They are pretty big when you stand next to one. Bigger than most modern cars even here in the USA.
Even if a car was comparatively long in the 60s or 70s, it was quite narrow by today's standards. I saw a /8 in the supermarket car park yesterday. It almost disappeared between the parking markings, whereas you can hardly open the door of the modern cars standing a little further away, they are so wide today.
Ian I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I had a mate who had an old Merc, not that model though. But his would burn oil the same as Tim's , however I discovered that the dipstick was not correct. At an oil change it was supposed to take let's say 5 liters, so after putting in 5 the dipstick stated that it was not full and needed another litre. So this time I told him not to put in the extra litre. Low and behold it didn't burn oil. So I remarked the dipstick with the correct markings and it was fine ever since . Might be worth Tim checking at an oil change and seeing what it sits at on the dipstick. Cheets
The sound of the Merc as Tim pulled away is identical to the sound at the start of Kraftwerk's Autobahn (full version, 1974). That I noticed that immediately says more about my love of Kraftwerk than it does about my knowledge of cars :) Lovely though. I grew up with a neighbour who was a test-driver for MB in the 60s and 70s. He showed my dad and I some amazing things on the back of trailers.
It was actually a Mercedes, but older. The opening sequence of Kraftwerk's Autobahn, in which a car door is slammed, the engine starts and the vehicle drives off, was taken from POLYDOR sound disc 9 (NH 22 991 B) from November 1958. So presumably a Mercedes-Benz W120/W121.
A mate of mine had a '73 220 that started off life as a 4-cyl petrol auto. Someone had then fitted a 220D in front of the auto box. This was not the best combination if you needed to get anywhere quickly, quietly or had more than a 5% gradient between you and your destination. After around 40,000 miles, it was evident that a good part of the issue was the engine itself, as it's soundtrack was a marvellous impression of an Austin Taxi's and was going through oil at an alarming rate by ejecting it out of every seal it could as well as firing it - often unburnt - down the exhaust. This last point was to cause some concern when the inevitable replacement engine went in until we worked it out! I gave him a hand to drop a low kilometre (98k km - roughly 60k miles) 5-cyl 240D and manual transmission in the beast and talk about a transformation! Sure - it was never going to break any land speed records, but it was now a comfortable car to drive that didn't hold up traffic while it attempted to get up to speed and the sound was like rain on the roof compared to the previous tractor noises! My mate ran that car for roughly another 70k miles - he lived out in the country and drove 53 miles each way to work each day, so the diesel engine and the comfort factor were a perfect combination for the long haul. The odometer then stopped at (2)97,585, so he didn't see the car roll over the 300k, but with the miles he did, it would surely have done so by the time he sold it. It was still a solid car in the right places, but the rot was popping out in the doors and a few other places, so after 12 years of ownership and well over 120,000 miles, he traded up to an '88 190E.. ...and hated it after 3 months....so traded THAT on an '85 W126 380SE. He loved the sound of the V8 and the effortless wafting along it could give, but didn't like its lust for every drop of petrol it could find. Sadly, it was demolished by a concrete truck while legally parked outside his workplace and he bought a Toyota Prius (don't ask me why - I have no idea). The 115 is one of my favourite shapes of the Merc as they still had the vertical headlamps and had not lost a lot of the styling detail they were known for inside and out. I'd still like a '65 W111 220S saloon in manual or a '65 220SE Coupe, but the 114/115 are still a beautiful and comfortable car and bring back a lot of good memories for me. All the best
This Mercedes-Benz from South Africa obviously is rust free although been an older Mercedes-Benz there are a few issues.The interior is so nice so inviting and runs very nice
Amazing cars. Back in the 60’s and early 70’s, the importer for the Belgian market, assembled these cars in Malines, Belgium which is the hometown of my mother’s parents and only 10 kilometers away from where I live. Back when estates didn’t exist they converted them and are known as the Mercedes Universal. They were officially recognized as an official Mercedes in a time where Mercedes didn’t offer estates. They are very sought after and even in Germany they go crazy about them. IMA thus made CKD Merces and acted s a coach builder for the estates. In Germany they were even more expensive than in Belgium due to import taxes on the finished product. Later, IMA assembled Saab 99’s until 76-77. Nice to know that not far from where IMA was, today there is Mercedes Mechelen, an official dealer, just across the street where IMA was located. Across the city, 5 kilometers apart, you had Triumph the ssembly also in Mechelen, before they went and relocated to Seneffe Belgium. Malines is French for Mechelen, but is more commonly used in English. The buildings will be demolished soon, planned for the end of 2025. So it is not IFA who made them, that was a DDR car manufacturer. It was IMA which stood for importateur de moteurs et automobiles. Indeed, they were first located in Brussels before they went to Malines.
My parents had the 280 (carby) version of the W115. Good reliable car, sadly let down by a bad crash repair which caused it to rust badly in the rear end.
Proper car, that - Tim's got exceptional taste!
My dad had a 250se version , this is when Mercedes Made them properly. Tim is a lucky man to have such a lovely car.
My grandad still owns a 1971 220D, here in Cyprus. Cream colored one with beige leather interior. The sound of that clackity-clack engine starting still gets me smiling.
Πολλούς χαιρετισμούς στον παππού σου, και καλό δρόμο με το Μερσεντές! Υπάρχουν επίσης μερικά δείγματα εδώ στην περιοχή Δράμας/Καβάλας στην Ελλάδα.
They use them as taxis in the old days probably still do I lived there for 3 years late sixties early seventies and remember asking a taxi driver why the Mercedes he told me he can always get parts for them
@@garychilds1130 Greek taxi driver Gregorios Sachinides from Thessaloniki drove 4.6 million kilometres in his /8 240 D. In 2004, he donated the car to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart and received a brand new taxi in return. It was a big topic in the German media at the time.
Absolutely beautiful, these classic Mercedes cars. I'd love to own one. Thanks for sharing!
I had a 220 Diesel automatic early 70’s model, it used to be å taxi before I bought it. When I sold it after 8 years, it had passed 780000 km.
The guy I bought it from bought it back, from me, redid the brakes, and his daughter used it as her first car.
Amazing quality on those -8 Mercedes models.
Thanks for showing.
The W123 has got to be one of the best engineered and built cars in history. A car done properly.
I owned one. Could never get it to run right. They have a very complex fuel pressure and distribution system.
Also the w114 featured here 🙂
Cor Tim's Mercedes is gorgeous! Love the tan interior with that light blue. Something about this era of Mercedes I just love.
As a Beetle owner I can only look at that quarterlight control with envy. What a nice mechanism.
My dad had one of these W115s back in the early 80s, black with a brown roof. What a machine!
I've had two of those Mercs...over 30 years ago...loved them so much! ❤
A great era of Mercedes. The knowledge Quirky Classics has is amazing. A great drive back 😊
What a beauty looks really original love this era of Mercedes I worked on the later w123 w124 era cars back when Mercedes made and engineered great cars keep it original Tim it’s glorious
This brings back memories, my dad had a 220D from 1973-1982, in India. With its 50 ish HP it was king of the road. It had an oil sump protection and usually mounted larger tires for added ground clearance. Never any issues with it, its probably still running in Delhi now...BTW I wasn't allowed to drive it, only the Ambassador.
I remember having a special family trip to Scotland by train in the 70's. As a car mad kid, the best part & by pure chance was the 240D taxi to the station & I've been a fan ever since.
Had a 240D on order with the Taxi Pack that was an extra two plus grand for it, for pleather seats and rubber floor covering but did have reinforced seats, suspension, door locks and hinges and a stronger auto box and the wiring and mountings for the meter and the gearbox transponder for it, rooflight and radio. I paid another extra for a mid range sound system with a boot mounted 6 CD changer (a new invention then) and a leather drivers seat. Mountings for a security screen if needed included in the pack. A three month factory order, I had to cancel one month before delivery as wife sprang a divorce on me, buying a new Taxi might have gone against me in the settlement, luckily the dealer had another on order so he got his taxi two months early and I didn't lose my deposit. Everything like the basic radio and wheel trims was an extra above the list price on a Mercedes then as was my licensing authorities non metallic white paint colour.
I remember a family holiday on the small German island of Borkum in 1976, where tourists are not allowed to take their cars with them; they stay in large garages on the mainland. When we left and the taxi arrived for the 10-minute journey to the ferry, it was a W115 LWB, also known as a Pullman. As a 10-year-old boy, I was beside myself with excitement!
Brings back memories that W115! A friend of mine had one (240 D), slow as a snail, but the engine lived longer than the body. There is also a way of opening the bonnet like | instead of / - there's a little tab to stretch it further up.
Yes the very useful service position.
Both my grandfather (on my Mum's side) as well as his son (my uncle) owned 1960''s model Mercedes 220 's. Designation is W111 I believe. My grandfather's had elongated vertical headlights and a vertical "strip" speedometer whereas my uncles had round headlights and a regular speedo. Also, my grandfather's had a front bench seat whereas my uncles had front bucket seats. Both cars had a column change.
Those Mercedes as well as many of the ones in this video were very popular back in my country of birthplace, Egypt.
What a beautifal looking Merc Tim has, a beautifal colour and what a gem of a place is quirky classics.
Mercedes heaven, great car Tim
Always good to see a collaboration video with Tim, and I believe there's more to come on the subject of his beautiful blue Mercedes. I for one, can't wait for that.
I'm sure the issues with the car will be in very capable hands, and all will be well. Thanks for a most welcome spin out, and another entertaining video. Best wishes to one and all.
That's a lovely car. My favourite era of Mercedes.
Tim’s new car is beautiful.
What a beautiful car!
And from my beloved South Africa ❤
Gorgeous. Love the styling of this era of Mercedes. Wouldn't mind one in my garage.
Lovely example. Nice colour/ upholstery combo. Lots of character.
Wundervoll! My second car was a 1972 W115 (/8) 200 D. Poverty spec. Nothing. Nothing but MB Tex seats. In the late eighties these cars were so cheap (and rusty). There have been two «gangs» in my village at Lake Constance: the Opel gang and the Diesel boys. It was a great time, we felt free, we had our big cars. Even for long trips to Biarritz for example… Thanks for this video and the memories. I’m curious for the following Mercedes adventures. These cars are timeless! See you ✨✨✨Martin
Wonderful cars. Excellent choice Tim.
Some excellent old Mercedes in that collection. Even a few of the old Mercedes vans were visible.
Defo need a bit of Volvo in your life, we have two 850s and a 460, love em.
For a part of my younger life I was brought up in East Africa.........Malawi late 60's early 70's. There were two cars that stood out as the ultimate testament to driving across the dirt roads and weathering the often hot climate. The Mercedes of that era was one and the other was the Peugout 404. Both cars were bulletproof and could reliably entertain the local conditions.
This is what endeared me to Mercedes as a child. Understated elegance, the engineering and the overall quality. This is a beautifully kept example. I wonder whether modern day Benzes will have this kind of longevity.
I think it'll be the internal electronics that will be the death of many modern cars, unless enterprising people start either pulling the modules from scrappers to "preserve" them for future use or learn how to adapt them. I have this very problem with my 2004 BMW E60 - the specific ECU is no longer made.
"Oh have no worries, electronics have no moving parts so they will be sooo reliable" The 80/90's kept the promise, the industry probably got scared by all that longevity. Once they go wrong they'll remind you of 70's BL or Fiat.
Amazing colours blue, more blue and brown. And a relatively small engine, lovely.
That is a magnificent Merc!
Beautiful piece of kit. My only surprise is that Tim managed to drag you away from that collection before it got dark!
You were just along the road from me! The scarily named Kilcrash Lane!😂. Love this Benz. Had no idea whose it was though. That was a surprise.
Nice. Interior of this quite familiar to me. About 20 years ago, I owned a 1984 W123 240D. Loved the big handbrake lever on the right of the driver, as here. And also the vacuum operated central locking.
Many thanks for this video, Ian. I need a few bits for my W123 230E, so when I get a free moment, I'll give these guys a call 😊
My dad had a silver Mercedes 280SE, 1968 iirc. The headlights were a bit more rounded at the top and the bottom than Tim’s car. Otherwise, it was very similar and this video brought back some good memories of driving around in it. My dad stripped a sparkplug thread and repaired it by glueing the plug in with Araldite.
These old school Mercedes-Benz s are glorious. 😎 Tim's car is lovely.
Back in the early 1990s on my road there was a W108 parked for a few weeks. It was a sight to behold on a housing estate laden with 1980s Fords, etc.
I had the 250/8 version with the 6 cylinder 2.8 in the late 80's. Loved that car
Beautiful, beautiful car!!
My god! That's a classic Merc fan heaven!
Merry Christmas too you all.🏴👍🏻🚙
to you all.
Very nice car. The colour reminds me of my French Blue Triumph 2000 I had some years ago. Original paint but had to keep on top of it with the polish or it would dull. Great to have a company specializing in a particular range of old cars and keeping all the old parts vehicles tucked away so others can keep going. 👍🏻
Merry Christmas to you all and thank you for all of your super videos in 2024, i wish you all a very special New Year and look forward to more hub nut adventures in 2025
Merry Christmas!
Great Video .
A six cylinder of these would be wonderful...and especially if it's in a good spec and condition like this one. Beautiful car. Am definitely looking forward to more on the car, even though it sounds like headaches..
Awesome car indeed❤❤❤❤
Best not tell Al from 6d diesels about this horde of Mercedes vehicles 😊
Beautiful classic Benz. I remember seeing them as a taxi as well, but my actual taxi ride as a kid in the 80's was in Mercedes-Benz W123 diesel, an accident at school, so the school called a taxi for me to get me patched at the local health care center. Only a class mate with me for security measure, haha.
The local primary school used to get hot meals delivered by the local undertaker. Black W123 estate with wooden floor with chrome fittings. Surreal. They are in storage.
The Fintails were bodied in Belgium they had 16 inch wheels where as the saloon had 14 inch wheels.
They had the limousine w123, estate and saloons as shiny black. They never sold cars they will be sitting in storage. Tried to buy his 2cv Charleston. Black and yellow.
That accent! I'm from St Helens (now AU) took me back.
Wonderful knowledgeable content as always.
Another great year of content so thanks for that.
Merry Christmas to you and your family and looking forward to more vids in 2025.
I loved my Xc70 and miss it. Amazing place to cover long miles in. Amazingly comfortable seats.
The Mercedes goes very well with your hairstyle, beard and glasses, Mr. Hubnut. A very German look.
The Quirky Classics guy seemed cool, would be great to hear more from him!
He'll be in Part 2 as well!
@@HubNutNice one, looking forward to it!
Merc is gorgeous, and yes, you do need some Volvo in your life. For the oil burning issue on the merc, remove the oil filler cap with the engine running, if there is pressure in the rocker cover check the PCV system and breathers, failing that, pistons and rings are a suspect. A leak down test will reveal more than a compression check.
That layout of wipers ( clap hand) is now much more common with modern cars albeit with a much more steeply raked screen.
Love that Mercedes, great colour. I had a Y reg '83 Estate in that colour, I regret not keeping it but it needed a lot of money spending on it, managed to sell it for more than I paid for it though so that was a bonus.😉
Nice motors
another great video has always Ian and Carly miss/mrs hubnut and hublets and hubmutt 👍
Mercedes-Benz did some utterly crazy things that made absolutely no commercial sense back in days when they were engineer-led but created utterly fantastic cars. A corollary to the 300SEL 6.3 sharing its' engine with the 600 is the fact that the next generation of S-Class, the square '70s cars, continued this by having the, by now upgraded, 600 V8 in the 450SEL 6.9, the car James Hunt used to own. These factory hotrods in smart suits are frighteningly complex but a good one is a fantastic and huge fun drive. Personally I prefer the 6.3 because I adore the sinister, get out of my way pleb styling of the older car, especially in dark colours.
I have the same car 1974 220. Absolutely love it.
In Germany, we almost always refer to the W114 and W115 as the /8 (‘Strich Acht’) after their year of release, 1968. Some also call this model series the penultimate true Mercedes. The small diesels 200D and 220D were called Wanderdüne (shifting dunes). Thanks for showing!
Before the around the mid 90's Mercedes really were incredible cars.
An occasional puff of smoke is not bad, as long as it is not constant. Tim has picked up a nice example.
Ian, regarding the overall gearing of the car, it is worth saying that South African examples of European cars from this period to the late '80s have much shorter gearing than European examples as the maximum speed limit was far lower than anywhere in Europe, so much so that when Practical Classics had a South African Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.5SC they discovered that it was absolutely screaming its' heads off in 5th gear at 65mph on the motorway. Putting a European gearbox in it restored sanity. I don't imagine finding a European gearbox and, probably, diff for the 220 should be too testing as they're renowned for being bomb-proof while W114/5 bodywork very much wasn't, but that would depend on how much of an issue the short gearing is.
Initially I thought the demonstrated oil burning might just be a sign of left over lubricant oil from machining work performed on the head, but the fact that it is an issue that has been being pursued since Tim got the car makes me rather suspect that it might need a bottom end rebuild. The car will have gone through a long period where it wasn't really worth anything even in South Africa so maintenance may not have been as thorough as perhaps it should have been, plus, being as it is low mileage and a car engine that necessarily means a lot of time running on choke warming up, which means a lot of excess petrol wash in the bores which can strip the lubricating oil film leading to rapid excess wear in the bores. I fear this needs a rebore and new pistons and rings. The low mileage may well mean that the crankshaft won't need any work, just new shells, reducing the potential cost for machining work. The upside is that, with the head gone through, though it would be worth checking if it has hard valve seats suitable for unleaded, it would give the car pretty much a fresh engine ready for hundreds of thousands more miles.
5 cylinder Volvos, they just get under your skin! I'm nearly 5 years into my 2012 XC60 D5 AWD manual with no intention of changing any time soon. Had an old S60 D5 previously which I know is still on the road at 225,000 + miles. Ian, I can see you in an older (P3) V70, find a good example with the earlier 163bhp D5 (without adaptive rear suspension) and you've almost got a car for life!
Agree with the 5 pots. I have to say the earlier 850s have the best experience. Probably the 2.5 10V is the best one for longevity. P3 is very complex and has dpf, egr etc...
@mehrzahl2219 no dpf or troublesome swirl flaps on the earlier (black top) 163bhp D5s 👍🏻
@@enpeemac you were saying P3. They all had dpfs. P2, yes.
Absolutely gorgeous cars. All of them
Edit : having the choice between that nice Volvo and that w115. I know which one I'd take. No brainer. Lovely Merc this! Irresistible
Despite coming from the land of the autobahn, where sustained cruising at speed was the norm, classic Mercedes were always criticised as being somewhat under-geared. I know that the six-cylinder 250 cars were available with a five-speed manual gearbox but this was a very rare option.
Superb car Ian &over 50 years old
This is going to be "The Mystery Of The Burning Oil"🤔?
Can hardly wait for part two.👍🏼
Love those cars. Back in the day nobody worried about revs at speed its just what cars were like, difference being the Mercedes was designed to be driven at wide open throttle.
Wonderful
When Mercedes were Mercedes… The German Humber! Do like these wonderful cars. Just think what fun it would be to by the Merc parked up in Cockfosters Road, Hadley Wood due to ULEZ!
In the late 90s early 00s my grandad had a metallic green 230E 6 pot with beige/cream leather immaculate upholstery with sheep wool covers had R129 wheels it looked lovely but started to developed rust on sills and he decided to sell it but believe me it was lovely to ride in
Lovely choice, Ian! A similar one was my first lhd car, but the Facelift model as a 200 Diesel, as in english red color.
Lovely video,and lovely car. But it should not make such amount of tappety noise..and also such amount of oilconsumption after doing headwork,is not normal either. Looking forward to the next one. Greetings from Mercedes enthusiast youtuber,from Norway ,Stefan :)
Things will be addressed in Part 2. Fear not!
Love the old Mercs. Hope the issue isn't anything too serious. Engine out can't be good, though. All the best, Mart.
I used to know a guy called John Billias, a Polish immigrant in West London who was THE guy for old Mercs. Bearded Mercedes Bloke probably knew him as well.
The W114/5's a bit rot prone but a superbly engineered car as Mercedes were back then. They just felt like they'd run forever, entirely possible of course.
The way to go with these and W123's is to use the 2.3 M111 and 5 speed from a rusty 20+ year old C or E Class. Powerful, ultra reliable and you'll buy the whole car for 500 quid.
In my head back in 1989 I was wanting to buy a Black early 70s Merc, 200D I think it was stack headlights and proper cool.. in reality I got a Mini as the insurance would have been very expensive as a 17 year old 🤣
When I was a lad, a 230.4 came to my dad via my grandad who’d always had auto jags. The Merc was manual, grandad used to try to just drive it around in 3rd all the time, failed, and handed it down to dad!
I will say I do quite like my V60 Cross Country. Not exciting, but very comfortable and reliable transportation.
Makes me wonder if they bought the "pigeon guano'd" W123 200 that was in Gateshead about 13 or 14 years back, looked like a complete car (aside from a broken rear window), just covered in major ploppage from the birdies roosting in the rafters above it...
Beautiful Merc.
I always imagined my late father would have graduated to a W123 after his Mk. IV Zodiac. I do love this style of Merc with the stacked headlights though; but rather more staid than a BMW E3 by contrast, it has to be said.
I think staid was what MB aimed for to be honest. You went for a W109 V8 if you wanted a bit of lunacy.
@@HubNut I get the impression that early 70s Mercs were driven by businessmen in Germany, whilst the contemporary BMWs were the cars for bright young things - and unfortunately, got the 'Neue Klasse' cars the nickname of the 'Baader-Meinhof Wagen'...
Doesn't the Merc look small compared to modern cars, considering how big they were back in the seventies. But then the Super Snip/nipe/Snipe looks quite small when parked next to a MINI Countryman.
They are pretty big when you stand next to one. Bigger than most modern cars even here in the USA.
Even if a car was comparatively long in the 60s or 70s, it was quite narrow by today's standards. I saw a /8 in the supermarket car park yesterday. It almost disappeared between the parking markings, whereas you can hardly open the door of the modern cars standing a little further away, they are so wide today.
That 115 is beautiful
What are the "special tools" you mention, as i did not use any rebuilding a 115/ 2.2 i just used what i had, and don't remember any major heradaches
Ian I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I had a mate who had an old Merc, not that model though. But his would burn oil the same as Tim's , however I discovered that the dipstick was not correct. At an oil change it was supposed to take let's say 5 liters, so after putting in 5 the dipstick stated that it was not full and needed another litre. So this time I told him not to put in the extra litre. Low and behold it didn't burn oil. So I remarked the dipstick with the correct markings and it was fine ever since . Might be worth Tim checking at an oil change and seeing what it sits at on the dipstick. Cheets
I went back and forth on the video to see if I could hear when the "frog" happened but couldn't hear it lol
Either way, Gorgeous car!!
The petrol station you stopped at is very near to where I live. 😂👍🏻
The sound of the Merc as Tim pulled away is identical to the sound at the start of Kraftwerk's Autobahn (full version, 1974). That I noticed that immediately says more about my love of Kraftwerk than it does about my knowledge of cars :) Lovely though. I grew up with a neighbour who was a test-driver for MB in the 60s and 70s. He showed my dad and I some amazing things on the back of trailers.
It was actually a Mercedes, but older. The opening sequence of Kraftwerk's Autobahn, in which a car door is slammed, the engine starts and the vehicle drives off, was taken from POLYDOR sound disc 9 (NH 22 991 B) from November 1958. So presumably a Mercedes-Benz W120/W121.
@@Volker_GR Thank you for that additional detail. Always great to be in the presence of people who can out-nerd a nerd :)
A mate of mine had a '73 220 that started off life as a 4-cyl petrol auto. Someone had then fitted a 220D in front of the auto box. This was not the best combination if you needed to get anywhere quickly, quietly or had more than a 5% gradient between you and your destination.
After around 40,000 miles, it was evident that a good part of the issue was the engine itself, as it's soundtrack was a marvellous impression of an Austin Taxi's and was going through oil at an alarming rate by ejecting it out of every seal it could as well as firing it - often unburnt - down the exhaust. This last point was to cause some concern when the inevitable replacement engine went in until we worked it out!
I gave him a hand to drop a low kilometre (98k km - roughly 60k miles) 5-cyl 240D and manual transmission in the beast and talk about a transformation! Sure - it was never going to break any land speed records, but it was now a comfortable car to drive that didn't hold up traffic while it attempted to get up to speed and the sound was like rain on the roof compared to the previous tractor noises!
My mate ran that car for roughly another 70k miles - he lived out in the country and drove 53 miles each way to work each day, so the diesel engine and the comfort factor were a perfect combination for the long haul. The odometer then stopped at (2)97,585, so he didn't see the car roll over the 300k, but with the miles he did, it would surely have done so by the time he sold it.
It was still a solid car in the right places, but the rot was popping out in the doors and a few other places, so after 12 years of ownership and well over 120,000 miles, he traded up to an '88 190E.. ...and hated it after 3 months....so traded THAT on an '85 W126 380SE. He loved the sound of the V8 and the effortless wafting along it could give, but didn't like its lust for every drop of petrol it could find. Sadly, it was demolished by a concrete truck while legally parked outside his workplace and he bought a Toyota Prius (don't ask me why - I have no idea).
The 115 is one of my favourite shapes of the Merc as they still had the vertical headlamps and had not lost a lot of the styling detail they were known for inside and out. I'd still like a '65 W111 220S saloon in manual or a '65 220SE Coupe, but the 114/115 are still a beautiful and comfortable car and bring back a lot of good memories for me.
All the best
My late stepfather had a 1974, which was a 2.8 six cylinder. Nice car for its time. Unfortunately, it ended up on the Banger track.
This Mercedes-Benz from South Africa obviously is rust free although been an older Mercedes-Benz there are a few issues.The interior is so nice so inviting and runs very nice
Tim that's truly lovely
I'm wondering if you might have a blocked up crankcase breather gauze.
We'll be digging into possibilities in the next video...
You should have popped in for tea and cake on the way back 😊
Stunning car, when Mercedes built real cars
Amazing cars.
Back in the 60’s and early 70’s, the importer for the Belgian market, assembled these cars in Malines, Belgium which is the hometown of my mother’s parents and only 10 kilometers away from where I live.
Back when estates didn’t exist they converted them and are known as the Mercedes Universal. They were officially recognized as an official Mercedes in a time where Mercedes didn’t offer estates. They are very sought after and even in Germany they go crazy about them. IMA thus made CKD Merces and acted s a coach builder for the estates. In Germany they were even more expensive than in Belgium due to import taxes on the finished product.
Later, IMA assembled Saab 99’s until 76-77. Nice to know that not far from where IMA was, today there is Mercedes Mechelen, an official dealer, just across the street where IMA was located.
Across the city, 5 kilometers apart, you had Triumph the ssembly also in Mechelen, before they went and relocated to Seneffe Belgium.
Malines is French for Mechelen, but is more commonly used in English.
The buildings will be demolished soon, planned for the end of 2025. So it is not IFA who made them, that was a DDR car manufacturer. It was IMA which stood for importateur de moteurs et automobiles. Indeed, they were first located in Brussels before they went to Malines.
Proof positive that you can never ever have enough garage space !
My parents had the 280 (carby) version of the W115. Good reliable car, sadly let down by a bad crash repair which caused it to rust badly in the rear end.
Ian, yes you need a Volvo in your life. The V70 and XC70s are fantastic cars.