1980 Mercedes-Benz 300-Series

SD 4 Door Sedan

Turbo Diesel

Automatic

Clear

Diesel

Up for auction is one of the finest examples of the Mercedes-Benz W116 chassis turbo-diesel 300SD sedans. This is the quintessential "little old lady" car that was purchased new at Park Avenue Motors in Palo Alto, CA. The car has lived its entire life in Northern California within a few miles of the dealership. With only 158,xxx miles this car has been driven less than 5,000 per year! The original owners were an older couple that took meticulous care of the car, keeping a hand written log of all services as well as every tank of fuel ever pumped in the tank! His profession as a mechanical engineer at Stanford is evident in the level of detail and perfection in his care of the vehicle. Upon his death, the car was largely stored except for the occasional weekend outing with mom. When she was moved to a residential care facility the car was sold to its current owner - a long time Mercedes enthusiast involved in the Mercedes-Benz Club of America at both local and national levels. The car was mechanically and cosmetically sorted (very few items needed to be addressed) and used occasionally for club events. The car is in such excellent condition that it spent almost two years displayed on the dealership floor of the same dealer where it was purchased over 30 years ago! This SD is finished in its original Walnut Brown paint. There are no signs of accident damage, rust or paint repairs of any kind. The paint shows like new with dep luster and reflection that one would expect from a brand new car. The interior still wears all of the original Bamboo leather. Unlike the majority of these early turbo-diesel sedans that were fit with MB Tex vinyl, this car was special ordered with leather and that same original leather still retains its natural, soft, pliant feel. Like all of these W116 sedans, the rear seat padding was worse for the wear and was one of the cosmetic items addressed. The rear seat pads were replaced with the correct OEM horse hair pads and the original leather seatcovers were re-fit. You can see from the photos that the result is perfect. Beauty is not only skin deep on this car. The mechanics are in as excellent condition as the body and interior. The engine is quick to start and stop, there is perfect compression across the cylinders and absolutely NO blow-by into the crankcase. The transmission shifts smoothly. The car accelerates like a dream and holds extremely comfortable law-breaking freeway speeds. The car runs on diesel but can easily be modified to run on bio-fuel. With a slightly more complex conversion the car can run on straight vegetable oil. The local dealership has estimated the cars value at ~$14,000 and Hagerty Insurance currently insures the car for $17,500. The Buy-It-Now on this auction represents an excellent value for such a perfect example of this model. The car is also advertised for sale locally as well as on several specialty Mercedes websites and through the Mercedes Club - and I reserve the right to end this auction early in the event the car is sold through another venue. I encourage international bidders and will work through local freight forwarders and brokers to insure a smooth international transaction. The car can be available FOB in the San Francisco Bay Area or Reno, NV at the buyers option. Title will not be transferred until all payments are confirmed by the bank. Please ask any and all questions before bidding as a winning bid will be considered a contractual agreement under eBay guidelines. Personal inspections are encouraged and for those interested I will work to arrange third party independent inspections of the car.