87% of you said you wanted to see some Malaise Era Mercedes-Benzes in this series (the '72 280SEL we saw a couple weeks back is technically pre-Malaise), and now that time has come! Here's a car that laughs at mere 300,000-mile odometer readings: Get to 500,000 miles on the clock and then we'll talk, I imagine this car saying to today's Japanese claimants to the car-longevity throne.
Now that's a freakin' hood ornament! This car listed at $26,265 when new, which is about $75,588 in 2007 bucks. 75 grand! The funny part is that the owner came out while I was photographing his car and offered to sell it to me for $600, which means its value has depreciated about 99.2% since new. Hmmm... knock off $100 and it's 24 Hours of LeMons ready!
This car has the turbocharged version of the unkillable Mercedes 5-cylinder diesel engine... an engine that deserves mention as a Workhorse Engine of the Day, when we continue with that series.
This example is on the rough side, with lots of dents and dings, but it still runs well enough to be used on the owner's daily 50-miles-each-way commute.
The Malaise bumpers don't look so great, but otherwise this design has held up very well over the decades.