PICK OF THE DAY: Pristine 34,000 Mile Mercedes-Benz 300 CD

Imagine walking into a Mercedes-Benz showroom in 1985. There sits before you a handsome coupé with a turbo-diesel motor in the popular-at-the-time 877 Blue-Green Metallic over Beige Tex. By now, the stalwart 3-litre five cylinder diesel motor has already gained legendary status, but placed in this two-door pillarless variant of the W123 chassis, it takes on a completely new purpose. This, in its turbo-charged form, combined with the sporty aesthetic, is the world’s first diesel-powered performance touring 2+2. This is the same basic motor that in 1978 broke nine different diesel and gas speed records, averaging nearly 15 MPG at over 195 MPH through 12 hours. Furthermore, the 300 CD was so impeccably engineered, that in its styling, it lost nothing in structural integrity, its Mercedes-Benzness. Naturally, you’re sold. Jump ahead to 2014 and after 29 years as the sole owner, it’s time to sell. Despite limited production, a 300 CD coming on the market is nothing extraordinary. As the designers and engineers intended, most are still on the road and somehow managed to skip over the period where they looked tired, such that they seamlessly went from modern to classic. A 300 CD, like any of the Mercedes-Benz diesels, can clock literally millions of miles, thus it’s certainly not extraordinary to find nice examples with 250,000 miles or more. What is extraordinary is that the very same Blue-Green over Beige 300CD that lured its owner on that showroom in 1985 looks exactly the same as it did then. With only 34,000 miles, it’s not hard to imagine why. Original paint appears flawless as does the interior. Even the floor mats look like they’ve had nary a soled shoe placed upon them. Everything including the original Becker radio and all power accessories, such as windows and sunroof, are said to be working perfectly.The owner states that it has been meticulously maintained and there’s surely no reason to doubt that. The attention to detail in its preservation is evident in every sense, including all its original documents, such as the 1985 brochure, from the original sale. Perfection has its price with this one priced double of what a 100,000-mile example would go for and several thousand over Hagerty’s high value. This however, is clearly one of those that is hors categorie. Its condition and mileage might be better compared to a late-model E or CLK Class coupé, except that this, in 1985, was the last two-door diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz we would see on these shores. Hors categorie indeed. Find it here on Craigslist in Seattle WA for $22,500.