1960 Mercedes-Benz 190-Series

190 D Sedan

4 - Cyl.

Manual

12111010029463

Clear

Diesel

Reluctantly I offer my car of twenty-five years for sale, a 1960 Mercedes 190 D. I might dub her the ‘grey old lady’ that refuses to die. She has never left me stranded, has been a daily driver for most of her life and still started right up after this winter’s storage. I bought her from the original owner in 1986. He had to give her up due to old age and waning eyesight; I never forget how he bent over the hood to kiss her good-bye. He was an airplane mechanic and kept her in meticulous mechanical condition. Unfortunately he fixed the body like an airplane, there are plenty of panels riveted with stainless rivets, which have held up well, but make the car anything but a collector’s item. She will never be a museum piece and has her share of rust problems, but she’s as solid as a rock. You can see in some of the pictures how we have re-enforced the vital parts, so she won’t fall apart. Mechanically she’s still in top shape. There is nothing that does not work (except the heat – more on that later) and there is no nut or bolt rusted or stripped. She’s been maintained throughout all these years and has only spent the last ten winters in storage. In the summer she’s a joy to drive, plenty of power, never any accident, brakes straight, runs straight with ease. Everything is mechanical, as to say: no vacuum system to break, nothing electronic, just straightforward mechanics. The original owner bought the car new in Germany in 1960 and brought her back to Long Island, NY, where she spent most of her early life before they moved to Vermont, where I purchased her and where she’s been ever since. There are only five digits in the odometer, so mileage is a guessing game. When I got her, I was told the mileage was about 450.000. After I drove her for another some five years and 50.000 miles the engine became too tired, showing excessive blow-by, primarily out of the dipstick and plenty of smoke from the exhaust. When I was offered a rebuilt ’62 200D engine, I decided to make the swap. It made for a much quieter ride and plenty more power, but in the process the heat was sacrificed as the intake manifold of the new engine got it the way of the heating system. So I decided to make it a summer-only car. I still have the heating units and the intake manifold of the original engine, which all fits and can be reverted to the original, but I opted for the extra power. The heating units and plenty of extra spare parts are all included in this sale. The driver’s seat is not the original, but a leather replacement from another unknown old Mercedes in great shape! You can see a couple of small rips in the original passenger seat and sun damage to the top of the rear seat, but otherwise the inside is in great shape and very presentable, though the flooring is not original. The transmission is a manual 4-speed with shift on the column. The knob on the shifter cracked years ago and was replaced with a golf ball. The original Becker tube radio in the dash still works fine with the exception of the station search function. Headliner is in great shape, seems to have been replaced by the previous owner a long time ago. The wood on the dash has been refinished and looks lighter since then.It is an old car that should find somebody mechanically inclined that likes to tinker with it. All pretty straightforward. Some of the things I would do next is re-install part of the heating system and construct some sort of padding or insulation under the dashboard to reduce engine noise inside the passenger room. (I left it like this as I like to hear the engine hum along.). A new paint job would make the car look great. I had it last re-painted in silver metallic about 15 years ago. A local body shop made an offer to paint and take care of some bodywork around the rear lights for $1600 - $1800.Car comes with boxes of spare parts too numerous to list here, all the workshop manuals, the original roof rack with canvas cover, and whatever else I have for this car. I have to let her go as I just had a chance to purchase a G-wagon and already have another couple of W123 300D's, so there is one car too many in my yard.No reserve, the working tube radio and the roof rack alone is worth the starting price. I will answer all questions and can be available by phone or e-mail. This car could be easily converted to run on vegetable oil and would make the neatest 'grease car' around.Serious inquiries only, please have an ebay record. Car is located in Vermont and can be viewed here by appointment. Shipping will be buyers responsibility.The car is registered, inspected and ready to be driven anywhere! But it is an old car, I would not attempt to cross a desert with it until I familiarized myself with 'the old lady'! On Jun-16-11 at 09:51:45 PDT, seller added the following information: Additional information due to all the questions I am getting:First, this is an old car. It was new when we had a president by the name of Dwight D. Eisenhower. The car is for sale ‘as is’! Since there is considerable interest in the 'old lady', I don't want to create wrong expectations, but want to be absolutely honest in my description and as truthful as I can in responding to the various questions. While everything works as stated, here are some quirks that came up after critical review: The clock works, but every so often makes a fairly loud 'clicking noise', so I disconnected it a long time ago. The defroster fan comes with the heater boxes and all, but is not installed. The fuel gauge started to work only intermittently, the same happened last year after winter storage and got better when the car was driven more frequently (I think there is an electrical grounding issue). Lastly the dome light switch just broke, there might be another among all the spare parts, can't remember right now. The little round speakers in back do work, but are not original or connected to the original radio; there was a second stereo radio/ tape player in the car at some point. There are fairly new Bilstein shocks all around, giving the car a tight suspension great for dirt roads. The windshield was replaced only a few years ago and is like new! I hope the car finds caring and capable hands. A little mechanical knowledge and a 'soft touch' go a long way with the grey old lady. I never planned to sell this car ever! I planned to keep her until she dies, but she refuses. So I want to give her a new lease on life. I just took her for a ride into town, she still turns heads. I am amazed at how many comments she gets in the street! I do not still have the original engine, only parts of it. There is no 'buy it now price', the highest bidder will win the car and hopefully will be happy with the purchase, but I can't guarantee anything. I can only describe the car as best as I can. The car is registered, inspected and insured; but if you want to drive her home, you will need your own plates and insurance. I can pick you up in Rutland,Vt at the airport or train station. But before the old lady leaves my possession, payment must have cleared or even better be in cash. I would not drive her across the country right away, unless you know these cars very well or have a companion vehicle. While I'm confident she might make, I would not want to be responsible if you did get stuck in the middle of nowhere. She runs fine, but is an old car! I'll be happy to assist with shipping, but it will at the buyer’s responsibility. Thanks for your interest! On Jun-17-11 at 09:54:57 PDT, seller added the following information: ... just checked on the fuel gauge and pulled the sending unit. It looses continuity when more that 3/4 full. Since I just filled the tank, it's not working and should starting working again, when the tank gets to about half full.