Classic Car Mercedes 300 Diesel Taxi / W 123 in Florida

Mercedes is currently presenting its new CLA. An elegant coupe-sedan with the latest technology, available either fully electric or with hybrid technology. Whether the four-door model with the internal designation C174 will ever become a classic or even a legend with a star remains more than uncertain. Perhaps that is no longer possible in today's times. With a length of just under 4.73 meters, the new Mercedes CLA is exactly as long as the Mercedes 300 D of the W123 series; an E-Class that, at the time, did not yet carry the designation of the series introduced only in the 1990s. However, not only dedicated Mercedes fans will concede that the 123 series, available from 1976 to 1986 as a sedan, station wagon, and coupe, is one of the great automotive classics in the Mercedes portfolio.

In the 2026 model year of the CLA, the briefly discussed diesel engine was removed, as its position is to be taken over by efficient hybrid petrol engines and electric drives. In 1979, when the ivory-colored Mercedes 300 D of the W123 series saw the light of day in the Sindelfingen production hall, a diesel was set and the three-liter diesel, with or without a turbocharger, was the measure of all thoughts on economy with hidden desires for dynamics. Especially in the United States, it became a successful endurance runner because the small four-cylinder engines like the 200, 230, or 240 D were mostly not offered, and the strict emission regulations made it increasingly difficult for petrol engines. A reason why the inline five-cylinder diesel was offered as the 300 CD in the C 123 coupe.

Those regulations, in effect since the mid-1970s, are also the reason for the barely 29,000 miles shown on the odometer of the supposed taxi model. Most of this distance was not spent on US highways or in the crowded downtown areas of Los Angeles, Denver, or Chicago but run emotionlessly on the dynamometer. This is not only reported by expert Nate Landers from the Mercedes Classic Center in Long Beach, but also evidenced by a plaque in the engine compartment of the test vehicle: "A car like this with this special drive shouldn't really exist," smiles Landers, "just look at the injection system and all the lines and auxiliary units in the engine compartment. A true prototype. But it runs." And how, because whoever drives the ivory-colored Mercedes 300 D through the upscale neighborhoods of Coral Gables receives just as much attention as further north in the Miami area. "Hello Taxi....", okay, that joke is heard more than once that morning at the street corner. No wonder with the exposed German-style taxi sign, which apparently is also well-received by Floridians. Thumbs up and smartphone cameras click again and again – that’s the USA. The country is as car-crazy as ever.

One should not expect miracles from the propulsion of the sedan despite the three-liter pre-chamber diesel. Nate Landers had already pointed out that the engine performance of this US model was significantly below the 65 kW / 88 hp of the normal European model. There are not even 80 lightly galloping horses behind the vertically rising radiator grille with a star. The four-speed automatic does its part to rob the radiant four-door of any conceivable drive when a quicker pace is required. No wonder that at the time many potential customers in the USA were waiting for the turbo version with initially 125 hp, which became a great success, especially in the S123 estate version.