The 1983 Mercedes-Benz 300CD we saw for sale last November is back up on offer at no reserve. To be perfectly honest, 181,000 miles rarely looked so good.
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The LT45 is Volkswagen’s Sprinter-like, light-duty van/truck that was sadly never officially sold here. Like the seller says, however, it serves as a great “Goldilocks” between the Syncro T3s and Unimogs we love to feature here – not too big, not too small, but just right and with all of the capability. Featuring two locking diffs, diesel power, seating for 6 AND a multi-use truck bed; sounds ready for whatever kind of adventuring you can throw at it. Exterior framing and a snorkel look tough but mean heading into the jungle is possible too. The canvas-covered truck bed means its only achilles heel may be winter camping, but I do love that it looks like there’s some suspended-bed contraption back there currently. A little easier to park than a Mog and certainly more space than a T3 van or DoKa, this Goldilocks means business.
Click for details: 1989 Volkswagen LT45 on eBay
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Conventional enthusiast wisdom would say that if you want an older, sturdy German off-roader, you want a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. However, that stance completely ignores a very important vehicle in Audi and Volkswagen’s history – the Iltis. The story is multi-faceted, but it boils down to two different stories; Volkswagen’s need for a replacement for both the Type 181 (“Thing”) and DKM Munga, and the birth of the legendary Audi Quattro. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Volkswagen consolidated the various Auto Union brands into a revised Audi lineup – the result of which was an opportunity to replace Mercedes-Benz as the German military vehicle supplier, a lucrative contract. To do so, Volkswagen built a new Type 183 vehicle using spare parts from the lineup of vehicles it now oversaw – the chassis was in large part based upon the earlier Munga, and the mechanical components based upon the Audi 100. The second story goes that in winter testing of some Audi and Volkswagen products, snow covered roads seemed to be the undoing of all but one of the lineup of cars brought along; the new Iltis simply left the other cars behind and impressed engineers Jorg Bensinger and Walter Treser (yes, that Treser), who theorized that the drive system could see road use. The result was the blueprint for the Audi Quattro that would debut in 1980, but not before Audi and Volkswagen won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1980 with an Iltis. While the Quattro legend would take Audi to a whole new level in the 1980s, not much appreciation is given to the father of the Quattro – they’re rare to find for sale but offer a neat alternative to the normal off-roader:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1979 Volkswagen Iltis on eBay
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I’ve dreamt about the Mercedes-Benz O309D as an RV before, and today’s underwent a full conversion from a postal van to camper van in the ’70s. It has some distinct pros and cons: On the plus side, it looks amazing in baby blue, is way cooler than a normal RV, and has the venerable Benz OM617 diesel found in the 300D, so parts are aplenty. On the other hand, it’s almost 50 years old with a 40 year-old RV conversion – meaning there’s plenty of work ahead – and the non-turbo diesel inline-5 has to use its ~80hp to haul a massive van up to its 50mph common-sense limit. My calculus adds it up to an overall positive because it runs, has a ton of potential, and putting in a fraction of what some people spend on RVs would make this a killer home away from home.
Click for details: 1967 Mercedes-Benz O309D on Craigslist Indianapolis
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The Volkswagen B3/4 Passat has always been a rather anonymous sedan, not as sporty as the Jetta that it stood above nor sharp compared to the other blocky European sedans of the day. Anonymity is valued by many, however, and in the world of commuter cars, it can pay to fly under the radar. This black on tan 1996 Passat just does that, and has the 1.9-liter diesel to make it a great commuter choice. Bland looks and personality aside, this is one of the cleanest B4s I’ve ever seen, looking nearly showroom-fresh inside and out. Roughly 130k miles on a TDI is similarly “good as new,” making this a unique chance at a model that would otherwise be completely unremarkable.
