If there was ever a For Sale Down On The Street (Oakland Edition) feature, I'd nominate this car: A 1956 Mercedes 180, which has spent the past few weeks parked dangling its "For Sale" sign around upper parts of Broadway in Oakland. It looks really clean inside & out, and the UC Berkeley Central Campus sticker (these pull rank over regular student / faculty stickers) serves to reinforce stereotypes about kinds of tweedy people who own these cars in the East Bay. And no, this isn't some elaborate advertising scheme — I have no affiliation to this car nor its owner!
See you around the wrecking yards,
supercarnitas

Now let's hear something from one of Oakland's best rappers... and I'm sure as hell not talking about MC Hammer here:

Hello again from the home of Coors!

And now to the story of the Mercedes-Benz pictured below. This one belongs to a friend who has had it in his family for a long time. He had been driving a 1980s vintage diesel Benz which had a tendency to not start on cold days, so he traded it to his Dad for this one. Fancy that, a nearly 50 year old car that runs better than a 20 or 30 year old one! Well, by "runs better," I mean that it leaks gas out of the fuel pump, the 4-speed column shifter pops out of gear, and the non-power four-wheel drum brakes take some getting used to. Other than that, this is a perfectly functional, if a bit worn out daily driver that probably works better than half of the 15 year old college student cars leaking oil on other campus parking spots.

I got a chance to drive this thing last week, and it's quite a machine. Not fast, safe, economical, or comfortable by any modern standards, but man does it have buckets of character and style. See that chrome ring in the middle of the steering wheel? That's the turn signal switch. And that canvas section of the roof slides back on tracks to give you a sunroof. Just look at the interior too: simple, elegant, and functional.

This car lives within a few blocks of the '66 200D. Unlike the '66, however, this Benz gets driven.


Unfortunately, the interior has That Mildewing Car Smell, which is noticeable from several paces away. The weatherstripping has most likely succumbed to the decaying effects of sun and smog, and so the car spends the entire long winter leaking rainwater inside. Fortunately, it rarely rains in Alameda from about April through November, so leaky cars dry out by summertime.


The parking permits are for Tom Hanks' alma mater, Chabot College in Hayward, which means this machine's commute is about 25 miles round-trip. I couldn't get a good view of the odometer, but I'm willing to bet the total mileage on the clock is in the interstellar range.