1983 MERCEDES-BENZ 300TD Estate

Introduced in 1975, the W123 Mercedes would go on to dominate the world with its rock solid build quality and million-mile reliability. Wherever you go, you will find survivor W123s doing the daily grind as taxis, yet a clean, unmolested example looks a million dollars and doesn’t look out of place no matter how nice the neighbourhood. 

The S123 Wagon, built from mid-1978, was Mercedes’ first official, factory built estate car, and was a massive hit, with Mercedes building nearly 200,000 units. All were equiped with standard self levelling rear suspension, allowing for large loads to be carried, or even for use as a stylish and luxurious tow-car. 

This example is a five-seater, with a chrome roof rack, immaculate roll-up luggage cover and a pull out luggage net/dog guard, and both its interior and exterior have shrugged off its 218,612 kilometres. Painted in the period-perfect (876) Zypressengün, or Cypress Green, with an unmarked Light Brown cloth interior, this 300TD looks and feels like a family summer road trip. 

In 2022 the car benefitted from a massive mechanical overhaul at Northern Prestige, including the fitment of a Turbocharger to bring performance and refinement in line with the later factory turbodiesel cars. Given increased traffic speeds this is a welcome addition and the car now performs as well as it looks and is ready for its next collector owner to share many family adventures. 

The original books are comprehensively stamped and there are delightful period touches like a Mercedes leather pouch for the spare keys and original swatches for cloth and paint, even a German-language manual for the factory tow-bar. 

Although they made many W123s, the wagons are far rarer than the sedans, and finding an immaculate example is becoming more difficult. 

Don’t miss out on this iconic TurboDiesel luxury wagon.