Every time the Mercedes-Benz W114 and W115 come up, basically the same thing is said over and over again: oft overlooked and somewhat forgotten. Not because these were bad cars or anything, but mostly because they predated one of the most legendary cars of all time in the W123. To me, these cars felt like sort of a dry-run for Mercedes when engineering the W123. Some things worked and were carried over to the W123, while other things were left in the past. One of the biggest things to make the jump to the new generation was the OM616 and OM617 diesel engines. Slight tweaks were needed, but the core of the engine was basically the same. They brought unparalleled reliability and toughness, but that came as a cost of being dreadfully slow. Still, it’s tough to complain about that when even now, some 40 years later, these engines are still kicking as well as the day they left the factory. This 1975 240D up for sale in Ohio painted in the lovely Cayenne Orange looks to be a real winner at first glance. But for as much as I wanted to love this car, some red flags have me thinking again about this one.
