Surf Blue, Blue Cloth interior, 4-speed manual gearbox, front headrests, original load cover and cargo barrier, original steel wheels with chrome hubcaps, central locking, Tracker, all original tools and manuals, full service history all by supplying Mercedes dealer, two owners from same family, only 28,000 miles

£12,950                                                       Click for Currency Conversion

It is difficult enough to find W123 saloons and coupes in the condition we would want to sell, but we just don’t expect to find nice estates at all. Nowadays most of them have been worked to death as family holdalls or tradesmens’ van substitutes, with very poor maintenance. This one is all the more remarkable in that it has hardly been used at all and has been maintained almost constantly.

It was supplied new by Lancaster Mercedes-Benz of Ipswich in October 1983 to a retired army major from Frinton. He used the car very sparingly and maintained it obsessively until his death in 2007, by which time it had covered approximately 27,000 miles. Ownership then passed to his daughter and for the last few years it has been stored in perfect conditions at the local Ford dealer, where it has kept company with the dealer principal’s own collection of classic cars and has been exercised periodically.

In the service book there are 22 service stamps, all from the supplying dealer, and many stamps for renewal of brake fluid etc. In addition we have many of the service invoices and old MoT certificates. We have had a full service carried out by our independent Mercedes specialist, so it is now ready for a further 6,000 miles without scheduled attention.

The car looks as-new in the flawless mid-blue paint scheme, which is complemented beautifully by the perfect blue cloth interior. It still wears its original Pirelli P3 tyres from the factory, which have ample tread remaining, and the spare is unused. These tyres are now well past their use-by date and the asking price includes for new tyres all round, though the new owner may wish to obtain a spare set of wheels and keep the originals for display purposes.

We thoroughly enjoyed driving it the 225 miles from Suffolk, and can confirm that it operates faultlessly, with all controls feeling tight and new. It has ample power from what was the smallest engine in the range, and feels very relaxed cruising at motorway speeds in modern traffic conditions.

This is a rare opportunity to acquire a hardly-used W123 estate for a sensible sum, now that most of the few remaining ones are well and truly past their best. Regardless of whether the new owner keeps it as a low mileage gem or uses it sparingly as an everyday car it will deliver many years of pleasurable returns, far in excess of its modest purchase price. We hope to see it regularly scooping up silverware in concours competitions for years to come.

We have commissioned a comprehensive mechanical check of the car by our independent Mercedes specialist. Any faults found have been remedied, and any required maintenance has been carried out (see above). Invoices for this work will be supplied with the car, along with our own warranty, details of which can be supplied on request.

Click HERE for detailed technical and historical data about this model