Gooding Christie’s is auctioning likely the world’s most perfect Mercedes-Benz 280 TE Station Wagon at Pebble Beach. With less than 3,800 miles on the clock, the car is practically unused, especially for a 1979 Mercedes-Benz. The factory original paint is gleaming, the interior is spotless, all of the chrome is in place and there isn’t a rust spot to be seen.
It’s unlikely that there is another Benz wagon like this anywhere in the world, and the price tag will probably reflect that. Usually, you can pick a decent or very fine S123 wagon for anything between ten grand and thirty, but this one will cost far more.
And just how does such a car come to be so well preserved, you ask? Why, an earthquake, of course.
Absolute Perfection
The W123 generation, built between late 1975 and early 1986, is from the brand’s golden era. These sedans, wagons and coupes are rightly considered some of the best Mercedes-Benz cars ever made. Sure, rust got to them, but these things go on to a million miles, even if W123/S123/C123 body cars with the biggest miles tend to be diesels.
The S123 wagon was also the first factory-built station wagon from Mercedes-Benz, as earlier longroof Benzes had been sedan or chassis based conversions from companies such as Binz, for ambulance or hearse purposes. It was offered in seven-seater spec, which is also the case with the car here: there’s a folding, rear-facing jump seat in the cargo area.
The 280 TE version has the coveted and sporty M110 twin cam gasoline engine, also seen in R107 SL convertibles of the time, as well as other high-end Mercedes-Benzes.
Eventually, the W123 generation was replaced by the more aerodynamic and less ornate, but still highly regarded W124 generation. Amusingly, the S123 wagon here is auctioned as “Lot 124”, not 123: Lot 123 is a Ferrari 250 GT. The Pebble Beach auction does have a couple of W124s, which are a 500E and an E500.
While it seems there are only extremely bare-bones or richly appointed 123s in existence, and nothing in between, this car belongs to the latter category. It has the fancy climate control unit instead of the usual rotary dials, automatic gearbox, Zebrano wood and part-MB-Tex, part-cloth upholstery, and it wears a tasteful Nickel Green paint instead of basic white or often-seen silver.
6088 Kilometers On The Clock
The car is unrestored. It’s been in this condition since new. It’s as if it never left the Mercedes-Benz factory, let alone a dealership. How is it possible? It’s all due to an earthquake.
The Mercedes-Benz was originally picked up from the factory in 1979 and driven all the way to its new home in Avellino, Italy, near Naples. The listing doesn’t mention why, but it was parked in the owner’s garage for the following year. And in 1980, an earthquake hit, and a resulting landslide sealed off access to the garage completely.
If the earthquake in question was the Irpinia quake that occurred on 23 November, 1980, it destroyed towns in the province of Avellano to such extent that some of them haven’t completely recovered even today. 80 percent of the town of Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi was ruined. It’s no wonder that a complete garage with cars was entirely inaccessible under rubble and earth.
Since rebuilding the region has taken decades, it took until 2018 for the Mercedes wagon to be recovered from the garage, where it had been parked for almost 40 years. The car is said to have remained untouched and undamaged, as well as unregistered.
Scott Grundfor Company, a classic Mercedes-Benz specialist in Arroyo Grande, California, listed the car in April and included a photo of the car in its garage, still wearing the oval German temporary plates with which it was exported.
In the eight years since its return to daylight, the car has been shipped to America, where Scott Grundfor’s company has only needed to do basic maintenance tasks, with the approach to maintain the car’s unrestored look. A car is only really factory-original once, and this one certainly is.
A 280TE without any optional extras, such as air conditioning, cost some 34,000 DM new in Germany. That corresponds to around $57k in 2026, if all the inflation calculators are correct. Keep in mind Italian car taxation, which often meant that Italian car manufacturers had to develop special sub-two-liter engines to keep them in attractive tax brackets (think Ferrari 208 GTB instead of 308 GTB), and a 280 TE has probably cost a pretty penny new in Italy with its 2746cc engine.
While the Pebble Beach auction has no reserve price, the car is estimated to bring a neat $130-160,000 when the hammer comes down: imagine a Mercedes-Benz wagon being worth $100,000 more than it cost new. But that can happen, when it’s the nicest one around. And, weirdly, all thanks to a devastating earthquake.
Photos: Scott Grundfor Company/Gooding Christie’s
Peak Benz. The W12X were the best looking sedans and wagons they ever made.
The wildcard includes a lot of great cars from the 50s such as the W120, W121 and W128, too. And the W125 held the speed record on public roads for 79 years.
That said, I remember my eleven-year-old self being disappointed at the W124 design, especially the odd shape of its taillights. Today, I consider it one of the most timeless ones in automobile history. The W123 looks like a classic, but the only thing that would seem anachronistic if the W124 were presented today is the fact that it’s neither an SUV nor a crossover.
My god, what a color combo. Automakers just don’t have the guts to offer green-on-green wagons anymore.
Question if anyone would buy it if you see all the grey/black/white cars out there. Technically, Porsche and Ferrari still offer any color you want.
This Mercedes would be the only Benz that I would buy if it was available in 2026.
Technically it is available in 2026.
Well yes, but what I meant was that Mercedes has strayed so far from it’s roots that the two have nothing in common.
That’s amazing, they recovered a trapped Rolls-Royce from the parking garage under the Baltic Exchange several years after the terrorist bombing, but it sure as hell wasn’t in that condition
The only problem with cars like this is that they are essentially no longer cars, but static display pieces. Its special because it hasn’t been driven, so driving it would make it no longer special
Man, I want Jonathan Ward from ICON to get his hands on this and lightly massage it into the perfect LS or Coyote powered S123 sleeper.
Restomod this thing?? It’s an original, unrestored time capsule. You should modify literally any other example than this one.
Noooooo
Bad monkey. No touch.
Is your handle an Arrested reference?
There is always money in the banana stand.
With a manual transmission, it would be perfect.
Imagine driving it in 2056, with 500,000 kilometers on the odometer, and still slowly chugging along…
If Mercedes Benz had the sense or ability to make anything like this for $57K MSRP in 2026, they’d be in way better shape financially than they are.
It’s beautiful, but it’s going to sell for so much money that buying it to actually use will probably be out of the question, since adding miles will reduce its value. That’s sad, because a lovely 123 like this would be a wonderful daily driver. This will be purchased simply as an investment due to the condition and low miles, which seems to me to be a bit of a shame.
> If Mercedes Benz had the sense or ability to make anything like this
Eternal sadness.
The reason why the are so awesome is that they had several billion DM development budget in the 80’s for each main vehicle. That’s bloody space program money for car company. They weren’t really making that much profit as they overengineered cars to nth degree. These days it would not be possible and still stay afloat.
And the market today is markedly different than it was when new W123s were rolling off assembly lines. Many things have changed of course, and I too mourn what Mercedes Benz has become. I’m no authority (on anything, including cars of course) but IMO, the W123 and W124 generations were peak Mercedes Benz (though I’ve got a soft spot for W202 C class cars despite their issues).
If it’s a used car from Italy I’m not touching it with a ten ft pole. 😛
That’s how they found the garage!
Cool color, and of course the third seat is awesome 😀
Yeah, a W123 can survive any earthquake or apocalypse
Great car and color. I would buy it to use it, though I’m sure it will sell for a high price.
This is fascinating, I would love to hear more about the story of finding it! Did someone find it by accident cleaning out rubble nearly 40 years later or was it known to be there, is the original owner still alive and were they able to claim the car, this is just so cool
The owner died, but left behind a map to their inquisitive grandchild. The map traced a path through the mountains ending in a large “X”.
Seriously? That’s amazing
It’s crucial however that the inquisitive grandchild avoid the regions marked with a skull and crossbones.
Not to mention areas labeled “Here there be FIATs”
Lair of Lucas
Wagons like this Mercedes are about the perfect vehicle form factory. Lots of room for cargo and passengers. 6.5 inches of ground clearance for gravel roads and snow. Low enough roof to easily put cargo on top of the vehicle.
Thankfully we are starting to see a few of these types of vehicles come back even if manufacturers refuse to call them a wagon.
A complete garage with cars, plural? I wonder what else was in there. If it was a public garage, probably a lot of Fiat 127s and 128s but if it was just the owner’s car surely someone with loaded-new-Benz-wagon money in 1980 had a toy? Maybe a Ferrari, perhaps one that had been depreciated for a while at that point and is now fully a classic?
I can see another car in that shot with the Mercedes in the garage, but I can’t tell what it is! Has to be pre-1980, though.
It may be a matter of perspective, but the vehicle to the right looks bigger than the S123, likely a van. The indicator/headlight assembly and the bumper suggest a 1980 Renault Trafic to me. Would have been brand new at the time of the earthquake, too.
I suggested 1980 Renault Trafic. Alas, my comment is waiting for approval due to a very unfortunate autocorrect error.
https://renault.drive.place/images/renault/renault_trafic_i_furgon_1.jpg
Thats probably cheaper than a new benz wagon – wild deal
And it will last forever unlike a modern one.
If I had the money, I would buy it.
And then I would drive it.
And I would do my best to become your friend.
Throw your stuff in the back, plenty of room.
I’ll bring snacks
Me and my incontinent dog want a ride too!
You can keep your super/hyper/whatever cars, this thing is it. What a fantastic looking thing. I would love to put a million miles on this beautiful car
What a cool find – love the look of these. I had two diesel ’79 300TDs at one point. Bought them both from eBay, one in Minneapolis and one out of Missouri, yet looking up their VINs, their build numbers were less than 100 units apart. One of them reminded me a lot of this car in that it was green with the Euro-light conversion.
It was a fun car, but proved to be more of a project than I cared to deal with so I sold it. I drove the other as a daily for close to two years, fixing various things along the way. Ended up selling it to a guy who rode a bus in from Michigan to Des Moines to pick it up and promptly replaced the windshield and problematic rear suspension system with factory components once he was back home. He called me from Texas around a year later to say it was running great and was really working out as an excellent car for him. I’d bet it’s still on the road today.
I love a good cockroach story!
These were considerably more expensive in the US when new, apparently. A 1979 300TD (we only got the diesel wagons, of course) listed for $23,900, which, according to Wolfram Alpha, translates to nearly $108,000 in 2026 dollars. This roughly $100K price point for Benz wagons held true into the ’90s, when the arrival of Lexus forced the Germans to slash prices quite a bit.
DB slashed prices by slashing quality, which has continued to this day.
Today’s Mercedes-Benzes would never have been approved for sale back in the 80’s or even 90s.
To put that in perspective of other similarly sized wagons, in 1980 a Peugeot 504 diesel wagon cost $10,198; a Volvo 265GLE was $12,985 (and a 245DL a screaming deal at $8565). Domestic options topped out at $9420 for a loaded (but still Slant 6-powered) Chrysler Town and Country – I suppose a V8 and real leather would’ve pushed it over 10 grand?) and started at $4721 for a base, 4 cylinder manual non/ac Ford Fairmont wagon.
All those prices came from the February (imports) and May (domestic) 1980 issues of Popular Science archived at Google Books.
EDIT: The same Feb issue lists the price of the Mercedes 300TD as $27,029, a $3000 price jump in one model year.
The US dollar was significantly devaluing against the Deutschmark in the mid-late 70s thru to the early 80s. MBUSA, Porsche, etc needed to raise US prices every few months in order to keep up.
This is why VW built the Pennsylvania assembly plant for Rabbits.
A significant difference, however, is that the $9,420 Chrysler was a piece of shit what never would have survived the kind of life many W123s did (and some still do!)
Put another way, you’d have to burn through no fewer than five Fairmonts before the Benz “paid for itself”. Considering those were cockroaches even if by all reports their initial impression was flimsy as hell to people who were used to older Detroit iron…
IMO the C/W/S123 is the greatest automobile ever built. I’ve had one, and I’d love to have another. I don’t want this one because it’s too nice. But I follow the 123 Series at auctions, and I think 6 figures might be ambitious, but I’ve been known to be wrong.
Ah, memories. My mother’s (originally my late grandfather’s) four-door 1980 280 E in Silberdistel (881 – a cross between silver, gold and green) was literally the first car I drove on the way home from my driving test. It had replaced a 1976 280 E in Mimosengelb (618), a bright greenish yellow and probably the most 70s color ever.
Googling W123 colors out of nostalgia led me to the site http://www.astralsilber.de/. In German, unfortunately, but easy to translate. It features pictures of 123s in every color available, and that’s a lot. I regret having only faint memories of the 1970s.
You’re going to have to replace every piece of rubber in the vehicle, but once you do that, it should purr like a… well, 70s diesel Benz, but it’ll do it forever.
The 280 is not a diesel – it’s a Benzina motore.
38 years in essentially a cave. No UV exposure. I suspect the rubber would be in the same condition as NOS rubber seals and hoses that had been sitting on a shelf.
The company listing it for sale likely replaced everything necessary, it’s a classic Mercedes-Benz specialist.
What a wild story, and what a beautiful car. I usually object to garage queens, but when mother nature herself intervenes to keep a car as pristine as this, you might as well embrace it as a museum piece.
Gorgeous! What’s that contraption on the end of the exhaust side of the head with the oil lines coming in and out? Did these have a cam phaser?
No, these do not have variable valve timing.
It’s a flux capacitor.
I saw this car elsewhere last week – it’s a beautiful example with a fascinating story behind it.
However “richly appointed” it is not.
Manual windows, Cloth seats, no wood trim on the console, hubcaps instead of Bundts, no cruise control, no sunroof, no fog lamps….
I approach this from the Scandinavian “Turning front wheels count as equipment” angle, haha
“The Mercedes-Benz was originally picked up from the factory in 1979 and driven all the way to its new home in Avellino, Italy, near Naples. The listing doesn’t mention why, but it was parked in the owner’s garage for the following year.”
The distance from Stuttgart to Avellino is just 1300km. The car has 6088km on the dial. Clearly the car was driven around during it’s first year and parked in the garage when not in use as one would.
No sunroof. Not even a manual one – the electric one would have been the pinnacle of luxury. It has the completely superfluous mirror on the passenger side, though.
As I recall, Mercedes-Benz never fitted power sunroofs to the T123s. Only manual crank.
That would make sense considering the actual mechanics for the power sunroof were located in the trunk on the W123 and C123. The crank was a piece of art in itself anyway.
You are correct.
https://forum.mercedesclub.de/index.php?thread/23126-w123-kombi-s123-schiebedach-elektrisch/ (in German)
Rear facing seats, the other true meaning of “vomitorium”