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The Mercedes-Benz W114/115 walked so the W123 could run. Maybe not, but you know what I mean. The chassis marked a way forward into real mass production with almost 2,000,000 units built compared to just 620,000 of the previous W110. You had both automatic and manual transmissions paired with handfuls of engine choices over the nine-year production run and that laid the groundwork for one of the most legendary cars in history, the W123.
Today, these are often overlooked as the W123 is a far more livable car in almost every way, but that doesn’t mean they should be totally written off in terms of owning one. Yes, they are slow and you probably aren’t going to be regularly using one in today’s traffic. Still, these are immensely satisfying in a simple way a 1960s Mercedes-Benz product can offer.
What if I told you that Mercedes-Benz made a W123 slower and less powerful than the 240D? Thankfully it was never sold in the US, but the 200D does exist. It came in at 54 horsepower and 83 lb-ft of torque, which is impressive that the engineers thought this was adequate for the year 1977. My whole thing is that I don’t care if cars are slow, I care if cars are dangerously slow. When you get stuck on hills, that’s not fun. When the car doesn’t have enough power to merge into oncoming traffic, that is a problem for everyone. So a Sunday evening drive out in the country, sure. Any kind of commuting or highway? Not a chance.
This example up for sale Oklahoma City now only checks in with the impressive 54 horsepower and 83 lb-ft of torque, but also has the steering wheel on the right side. An odd ball to say the least.
The W114 and W115Â is looked at as the generation that came before the legendary W123 came along and cemented itself as one of the best…
