The recent floods that killed more than 220 people near Valencia, Spain, also caused billions of dollars in property damage. Numerous cars, trucks, and motorcycles were ruined beyond repair by the torrential rain, including hundreds of vehicles that ended up wrecked in multi-car pile-ups, but a classic Mercedes-Benz 300D proved just how tough the W123 chassis is by driving out of a flooded parking garage under its own power.
Iván Felisi Rubio left his green 300D in an underground parking garage in Algemesí, a small town located about 45 minutes south of Valencia. Speaking to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, he explained that the parking garage was completely flooded. “The street was a meter and a half deep in water; imagine what the garage was like,” he said. He couldn’t go check on his car until emergency services drained most of the water.
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He found himself face to face with every collector’s worst nightmare: his classic car looked totaled. The roof panel was covered in mud, which suggests the car was fully submerged, the interior was a mess, and water also got into the engine. While most folks would have called their insurance company, Rubio headed to an auto parts store. After all, the W123 300D is no ordinary classic: it’s one of the toughest cars ever built.
“The only thing I did was change the battery, drain the water from the engine, and check the oil. It started right away,” he told El Mundo.
It helps that there’s not a lot to go wrong on a classic Mercedes, especially one that’s powered by a diesel engine. Both headlights illuminated the way out of the parking garage as the naturally-aspirated 3.0-liter straight-five’s low rumble triumphantly echoed off the walls, and the wipers slowly cleared mud off the windshield as a middle finger to the flood waters that tried to drown the car. Even the brakes appeared to work.
The W123 is widely praised as one of the most durable cars, which explains why it remains popular in parts of the world where road conditions are rough at best. I’ve ridden in 240D taxis with 800,000-plus kilometers in Morocco, and I’ve put my own W123s through some pretty hellish adventures, including towing another car uphill in the Alps. The only things that can kill these cars are rust and a general lack of maintenance.
As for Rubio’s car, it sounds like it will be back on the road relatively quickly. “I just need to clean it. Take it apart and clean it. The odometer will be the most complicated part, but luckily it is a car for which there are many spare parts,” he told El Mundo.
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