I might be looking for a down market Mercedes. I'm a classic car guy with a lot of variety under my belt. My classic pickup was recently pancake-ified with a drizzling of me-sauce and dog-sprinkles (we both made it, but only just). Not surprisingly, the guy's insurance essentially stole my truck. Apparently in insurance land, the only thing that matters is shiny paint... Never mind the brand new built drivetrain and electrical system...
Anyway... I have $6K to play with including TTL and near term repairs between now and the ultimate settlement (which takes a long ass time). I was looking generally out on the market and found myself staring under the hood of a fairly nice '83 300TD. I like wagons, and dig diesels as well. What really grabbed me though was the engineering and build quality. I'm sure this comes a surprise no one here.
What I mean is that there are proper fasteners everywhere there should be fasteners. None of this modern car plastic rivet garbage. Additionally, a little research shows that nearly everything is designed to be rebuildable, with fusible parts, ease of access, etc. Very nice!
Unfortunately, the particular 300TD I was looking at has enough issues that I can't even test drive it... I might still do a deal there, but I have some time to figure that out, and in the meantime I'd like to explore other options.
So here's the question: With things like steel, brass, and whatever other alloy construction, rebuildability, PARTS AVAILABILITY and cost, and reliability in mind, what models are worth looking at?
I really like wagons, I've had a jones for an R107 off and on for a while, and I'm really pretty open. I just want to make sure I don't get something cool only to find that some common wear part is unobtanium. Mechanical injection setups are generally fickle and extremely pricey (this has kept me from really digging too deep in the R107 pool), but not being able to get a windshield is also a deal killer. I'm also not opposed to more modern cars. I haven't had a chance to really dig around in one yet, but googling images of engine compartments shows an awful lot of plastic... What's the deal with the newer stuff in this realm? I'm pretty open to suggestions.
Anyway... I have $6K to play with including TTL and near term repairs between now and the ultimate settlement (which takes a long ass time). I was looking generally out on the market and found myself staring under the hood of a fairly nice '83 300TD. I like wagons, and dig diesels as well. What really grabbed me though was the engineering and build quality. I'm sure this comes a surprise no one here.
What I mean is that there are proper fasteners everywhere there should be fasteners. None of this modern car plastic rivet garbage. Additionally, a little research shows that nearly everything is designed to be rebuildable, with fusible parts, ease of access, etc. Very nice!
Unfortunately, the particular 300TD I was looking at has enough issues that I can't even test drive it... I might still do a deal there, but I have some time to figure that out, and in the meantime I'd like to explore other options.
So here's the question: With things like steel, brass, and whatever other alloy construction, rebuildability, PARTS AVAILABILITY and cost, and reliability in mind, what models are worth looking at?
I really like wagons, I've had a jones for an R107 off and on for a while, and I'm really pretty open. I just want to make sure I don't get something cool only to find that some common wear part is unobtanium. Mechanical injection setups are generally fickle and extremely pricey (this has kept me from really digging too deep in the R107 pool), but not being able to get a windshield is also a deal killer. I'm also not opposed to more modern cars. I haven't had a chance to really dig around in one yet, but googling images of engine compartments shows an awful lot of plastic... What's the deal with the newer stuff in this realm? I'm pretty open to suggestions.