Mercedes-Benz 230E
The W123 has been in resurgent form of late, with many nice examples coming on to the market. This car, with a barely run-in 64,000 miles on the odometer, is one of the better cars out there. The 2299cc fuelinjected M102.980 engine hadn’t been run in over a month, but it sparked into life instantly and idled smoothly. Performance is perky enough to keep up with modern traffic, there are no strange noises from the suspension and the brakes are sharp but predictable.
BODYWORK CHECK
The beige paint is an acquired taste, but good throughout with no ripples or chips and only a couple of scratches to the driver’s door frame. The chrome is in largely good-toexcellent condition, though the trim around the rear door frame has gone a little dull. There is evidence of touch-ups to the body and paint over the years, as befitting a car that’s more than 33 years old. There are some scratches to the hubcaps too, and some bobbling to the plastic mirror surround. Tyres are a mixed bag – the fronts are a matching pair of Kumho Power Star 758s while at the rear one side wears a Falken Sincera SN807 and the other a Unistar U808. Sticking with the rubber theme, the seal on the driver’s door frame is separating, but there doesn’t appear to be any sign of moisture creeping in.
HOW’S THE INTERIOR?
There’s a similar lack of damp in the rest of the cabin – the lack of a sunroof means that there are none of the usual issues arising from blocked drain holes and the headlining is in superb order. The tan cloth interior is in very good condition with only light stains to the passenger seat. There are a few marks here and there, but nothing to cause significant worry. The non- standard aftermarket CD/radio is subtle enough to blend in with the rest of the dashboard and the wood trim is in largely excellent condition, bar a very minor scratch to the glovebox lid.
UNDER THE BONNET
Popping the bonnet reveals a clean engine bay and an engine that has clearly been well looked after. All the fluids are up to their maximum mark and none made a bid for escape during our test drive. The wellstamped up service book backs up the mileage. It’s had eight owners but all from the same family – in fact the car has never left Norfolk. It had a full service and a brake overhaul in May 2016 and has covered just 300 miles since.
THE CCW VIEW
This is a superb and original car that wouldn’t take much work to bring up to concours condition, but if you’re looking for a daily driver classic, this also fits the bill. Some won’t like the beigeover-tan colour scheme, but get over that and you’ve got a fine machine indeed.