Good afternoon (or morning, or evening, or whenever you may be reading this) ladies and gentlemen and welcome back to Koffo’s Car Corner where I talk about the wackiest cars from the days of yore. It’s been a while and since the first semester I’ve had the pleasure of acquiring a project car, which I’ll be talking about today. The car in question is the W114 Mercedes 240D from 1974. Now, to get an idea of what sort of car it is we can look at the platform code and model suffix. Much like BMW, Mercedes uses platform codes, in this case W114. This just identifies the car as a member of Benz’s midsize sedan family from the late 60s to the late 70s. The D in “240D” lets us know that it’s a diesel.
Now, many of you might be unfamiliar with diesels and I can’t blame you. The last time they made the news was because of VW’s infamous “DieselGate” scandal so I can understand some negative associations. However, diesels are more fuel efficient than gas engines, more torquey and usually last longer, so don’t be so quick to write them off. In the case of the 240D, the engine is quite gutless, cranking out right around 80 horsepower. While you won’t be winning any races, you can run the OM617 5 cylinder on biofuel if you want to be extra eco friendly (Prius who?).
The 240D has classic 70s styling with sweeping semi-curved lines, yet it maintains the tailfins that were oh-so popular in the 50s and 60s which leads to a very interesting, and in my opinion attractive, look. The interior is well appointed and comfortable with leather and high quality plastics. Mine is equipped with a tape deck and factory air conditioning, identifying it as one of the higher trim models.
If you want a classic that’ll take you a ways for pennies and will serve you reliably for hundreds of thousands of miles I strongly recommend a 70s diesel Mercedes. 
I really liked this post!!! I know almost literally nothing about cars (just last week I learned the actual model of the car I’ve owned for 2 years lol) so this blog is cool to read about. I liked how you explained the specifics of diesel, and how a lot of people might have misconceptions about it. This was interesting because I thought diesel fuel was kind of bad, just because of things I had heard from other people. But, after reading this I agree that it can be better long term. I also like how you added a picture of the car so the reader has a good visual after reading your descriptions. Overall, great post!!!!
I really enjoyed reading your post! I do not know much at all about cars, especially old cars. I definitely had a bad impression of diesel cars, but I have not done much of my own research, and most of the information I know about it came from probably not the most reliable sources. When I think of diesel, I immediately think of a massive truck with a thick cloud of black smoke coming from the exhaust, so that is pretty much what I based my opinion on. I did not know they are more fuel-efficient, and I think many other people have the same misconceptions. Great job!