Admit it: you want this car.
The Internet’s been awfully excited about this rather improbable auction for a functional W123 300TD El Camino, and with just two days left to, bidding’s cleared ten grand.
This, mind you, for a car with a broken hydraulic system and broken A/C.
And the reserve still hasn’t been hit.
It will be interesting to see the final price, because this is the sort of thing that everybody says they want… right until one appears. This would be a hell of a utility vehicle for some urban DINKs or an older farmer who liked driving into town. The only question would be: how often will it break? And if you actually spend twenty grand buying the thing (or more), how much more will it cost to make it work right? Jack’s Rule Of Auction Cars: all the easy stuff is fixed when it’s listed.
It’s still a hell of an automobile, however… and it would be nice to see it pacing the field at a LeMons race.
I’ve seen 3 M-B sedan to truck conversions here in COS in much cleaner condition; that one fails to impress me.
That’s a pretty amazing conversion. It’s one of those conversation pieces that’s perfect for the right person.
I didn’t like ’em the first time around, what a goofy vehicle though.
Obviously the photos are done with the intent of showcasing the best possible views but the conversion actually looks reasonably well executed (for what it is and all that). It does give me a laugh though when the seller mentions how reliable it’s been …. Since he drives it 700 miles A YEAR! Ha.
I’d still rather have the well kept 300d in original condition though.
“I’d still rather have the well kept 300d in original condition though.”
This.
Put the MB-Tex seats back in
I agree. The new seats wreck it.
No bench seat. No column shift. No room for nookie. I’m out.
where did they get that rear window from, that looks like some serious engineering
I’ve seen comments in other places that indicate it’s from an El Camino, along with the entire bed interior and tailgate.
edit: just read the details in the listing and it’s described as “from an 80s era El Camino.”
I still want it. I still couldn’t afford the buy-in, let alone fixing whatever’s wrong with the AC and hydraulic suspension.
The suspension is not terribly difficult or expensive to fix. If you had to replace everything including the pump it would be $1500 in parts. Its a pump, two hydraulic lines, a hieght valve, two rams, and two nitrogen spheres. Not rocket science. Neither is A/C work.
Neat car.
Amazing. Amazing that some one would want to do this. Looks well integrated though. What else could they do? Is it M-B based?
How about an S-Class RV?
It’s true. I want it just because. Because “daddy loves the dissonance”. Overpriced. Nice idea though.
How can it be overpriced, it’s an auction? Bidding is currently over $12K.
To put it in perspective, how much would this cost to do yourself? I sold a ’79 300TD in decent but by no means amazing shape for $6K a couple years ago. Then to do all the bodywork?
Good point although if it was a body man doing his own work I can’t see the cost of this going beyond 10K. You or I hiring someone to do it, well this might be more. We also have to consider the car was purchased or the work was done prior to the 2008 oil shock and economic collapse. I seem to recall half decent Mercedes oil burners doing 3Kish or less in ’04 partially because no one wanted them.
Years ago, I remember seeing a huge W123 van, it was awesome. Not as absurd as the Chevy Camaro pickup trucks popular in Finland in the 1980s, however.
The ONLY thing like this I’d ever want is the BMW M3 trucklet they built a few years ago, but that’s only because it was an April Fools joke.
No headrests? What developing nation did this come from? We’ve had mandatory headrests for decades (4?).
If you want a Merc ute try this one out for size.
http://www.drive.com.au/motor-reviews/first-drive-review-mercedesbenz-g63-amg-6×6-20130301-2fa2x.html
If I were a VW Caddy, I would envy this car.
But.. I dunno. It’s a vintage Mercedes with a mullet.
In light of those developments- err… no thanks.
“It will be interesting to see the final price, because this is the sort of thing that everybody says they want… right until one appears.”
Was anybody actually asking for a Mercedes-Benz El Camino with an eighties diesel and no AC for $10,000+?
Needs a licence plate that says: “ILL MINO”
“BNZ MINO”
I’m considering it and if I pull the trigger I’m painting it metallic purple and painting a really cool mural on the back tailgate.
I think this would have looked much better with the doors from the 2 door hardtop W123 . In the late seventies / early eighties there were a number of quirky El Camino type truck conversions on passenger cars . As I was living in Texas at the time – most of the rest of the country was in a recession- these may have been more present than elsewhere . I remember some truly awful – and very rarely seen truck conversions of both the first and second generation Sevilles and a Lincoln Town car version of the same era that was possibly even more ungainly. All had badges attached with the coach builder’s name so presumably were not one-offs . One of the better ones I saw was a nineties Roadmaster Estate wagon truck conversion I saw when working at some rich guy’s ranch a few years ago – actually looked better than the factory car.
Next up, an XJ-S V12 El-Caminoe’d.
If one’a those after-market camper bed-toppers made for the ‘mino fit this, I’m buying it.
The shape of the El Camino bed makes a camper installation difficult. Wait for the panther Marquis conversion.