A 1962 BMW R60/2, manufactured in Munich DEU. This was a barn find, bought two weeks ago. The rider, a guy, was in Red Rock Coffee Shop in downtown Mountain View, near where I used to work. I was there with a good friend. He said it belongs to his wife and he is still shaking it down and getting a few parts for it. Beautifully patina’d, they’re going to keep it that way. The wife works in the coffee shop and I met her too.
Wow! What an awesome find!
That’s not a car!
Beautiful, functional style. Did you get to hear it?
@Pleonast, who are you asking? It is not clear from the post.
This Mercedes-Benz 300TD was spotted on I-80 in Northern California as I did a quick round-trip drive from San Francisco to Salt Lake City.
The Mercedes-Benz 300TD from model years 1976 to 1986 was among the most successful Mercedes-Benzes of all time. This generation is designated as W123. Its predecessor, the W114/W115, with 1.9 million of them built, had been the most successful Mercedes-Benz of all time. But then the Mercedes-Benz W123, with just under 2.7 million of them built, blew away that generation’s record.
For the TD model designator, the T stands for Tourismus und Transport (Touring and Transport, or station wagon), and the D is for Diesel. 300 is the engine displacement size of 3.0 liters.
The Mercedes-Benz W123 developed a reputation for bulletproof reliability and an ultra-strong chassis. Especially the TD engine, the turbodiesel, which is remembered today as one of the toughest and most reliable vehicles of its age. They were commonly used as taxis due to the fact they could run for over 600,000 miles (1,000,000 kilometers) without requiring anything more than scheduled maintenance. After those 1,000,000 kilometers in Europe, many W123s with the TD engine were shipped to Africa where they were highly admired for their ability to travel on rough roads and to not require frequent maintenance.
This TD engine is known internally as the OM617 engine. A straight-5 turbodiesel, the 300TD was sold from 1978 to 1985. It is this OM617 engine that helped to build Mercedes-Benz’s reputation in reliability. Widely regarded as one of the most reliable motors of its time, a highly modified version of the OM617 turbodiesel set a slew of world speed and endurance records when it was fitted to the Mercedes-Benz C 111 concept prototype. On the test track at Nardo in Italy over the space of 60 hours, four drivers would set no less than 16 world records, including 13 for diesel vehicles and three for cars with any type of engine. Their average speed for the 60 hours was 150 miles per hour. In 2½ straight days of running at 150 miles per hour this team of drivers covered 9,000 miles.
In road racing, in 1977 two W123s finished first and second in the 17,500-mile London–Sydney Marathon road rally. This road rally has been run six times, in 1968, 1977, 1993, 2000, 2007, and 2014. It has inspired other long distance rallies, including the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally (16,000 miles), the 1974 London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally (12,000 miles), and the annual Dakar Rally (held annually since 1979, the Paris-Dakar Rally, from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, the westernmost city on the African continent, is a true off-road rally. Due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America, and from 2020 to 2023 in Saudi Arabia.)
The Mercedes-Benz W123 is about as solid as cars can be. Many are still on the road – somewhere in the world.
This particular model claims to be a BIO-FUEL TEST VEHICLE running on SOYBEAN OIL. That’s what its signs say, anyway.
USAF SPECIAL WARFARE with government plates: what truck is this? F-150?
These guys installing a bank of ElectrifyAmerca EVSEs showed up to work in a Tesla. Also, there’s a bank of Tesla Super Chargers about 50 feet away.
With the Raptor package, yep. I gather the truck is a recruiting tool.
The tail lights are a match.
They need to put the antenna back in its ball mount on the driver’s quarter. A stout spring and 102" stainless whip would look sharp folded over.
I also like the ears for the license plate stickers.
This old Ford lowrider:
Saw a beautiful blue Maserati Levante on a trip to Seattle, followed closely by a blue Porsche Cayenne Turbo S.
Saw one of those myself while waiting for a bus this afternoon; pretty sure it was the shade of blue they called “Montego”.
I’ve found that changing up my route when I take walks is a good way to find interesting cars. That’s what I did today when I saw this, I believe it’s a 1966 Ford Falcon Ranchero. It’s a bit rough looking, but all there. I’m assuming it’s a project car.
Saw these two today at the gym. I have no idea if they are related, or even know each other…
A Ferrari. On the streets of Little Rock, that’s like seeing a unicorn.
At a ski area last week I saw a Lincoln Aviator (Expedition clone) and a Lincoln Corsair (Escape clone, plug-in electric model) parked next to each other. I’ve rarely seen either of them even though I live within two miles from a Lincoln dealer.
Today I saw a 1972 Dodge Dart Custom Demon.
Two late model Mustangs today, one passed by me while I was waiting for a bus and the second was parked. I guess the first was a modern GT350 in white with Ford Performance blue stripes – I wasn’t sure what it was until I saw the taillights, looked more like a Dodge Viper from the front. There was no mistaking the triple black one from any angle.
A truly beautiful Bentley Continental. I was surprised to see it because yesterday was a “sloppy driving” day with salt and muck from melting snow on the roads. But of course none of that dared show on this beautiful silver car.
I also finally spotted my first new Mustang in the wild. Now, it’s a decent looking car and per my friend who is considering buying it, claims it handled well for him. But it’s not a Mustang to me. No sir. Get off my lawn!