The enthusiast website Petrolicious posed the question if the venerable Mercedes-Benz W123 would be the last “normal” car you would ever need. I think the word normal sums up this car quite perfectly. But in a good way. That’s in contrast to a car like the Toyota Camry, which is a good example of “normal” in a bad way. The Camry is the perfect car for the non-car enthusiast. It doesn’t do anything exceptionally well, but it will be, for the most part, reliable. Many have asked for my opinion on this Toyota over the years and I always say the same thing: over 400,000 people a year can be wrong.
If it’s reliability we’re talking about, that long-standing trait of the Camry pales in comparison to what the W123 Mercedes-Benz is capable of. This 1981 280E we see here for sale near Düsseldorf, Germany will indeed last you a lifetime with proper care. Witness the number of examples that are still pressed into service on a daily basis. However, in our quest to find the best and lowest mileage examples of your favorite classics on the market, have a look at this W123 that has just over 14,000 miles on the odometer from new.
