Emerging Classics
Celebrating the joys of the middle-aged Mercedes-Benz
1975 Mercedes-Benz W115 230
Worth the Wait
Article & Images Jay Hill
When my wife and I were newly married and living in Richmond, Virginia, we were proud to own a second-hand 1975 Mercedes-Benz 230, one of the last sensible W115 New-Generation models. Moving back to Richmond many years later, I started looking for a nice rust-free 230 like the one we had enjoyed as a young family.
As an aside, I’ve owned and worked on W114, W115, W123, W107 and W126 Mercedes-Benz vehicles as a hobby for over 40 years. After the era spanning those models, automobiles have evolved from mechanical machines to mobile platforms for electronic systems requiring expensive diagnostic equipment. My brother, who recently retired as a Porsche technician, told me that he started out as a mechanic and ended up as an electrician, so this is not just a phenomenon limited to Mercedes-Benz.
Pinnacle of the mechanical car
In my opinion, the cars after the mid 1990s will never be kept on the road for the long term because hobbyists simply cannot work on them as was possible with the earlier mechanical automobiles. The 1970s and 1980s were really the pinnacle of the mechanical car. In particular, the W115 was the last Mercedes-Benz design that wasn’t dictated by aerodynamics. I find the upright grille and elegant design to be the epitome of historic Mercedes-Benz tradition.
Going back to my story, the W115.230s had only been available from 1974 to 1976 with fewer than 90,000 examples manufactured, so my search went on for almost 15 years. We even went all the way to Houston once only to be disappointed with the condition of the vehicle. Then, in the spring of 2018, I found a likely W115 in Bloomington, Illinois.
This W115’s backstory
Howard Rodgers, the car’s owner, explained that one of his bucket-list items was to drive cross-country in a classic Mercedes-Benz. He had located a 1975 230 in Seattle, Washington, and put his dreams in motion. But he hadn’t even made it out of the state before a broken radiator hose and faulty temperature gauge produced an overheated engine that blew up.
But Rodgers had not given up on the car or his dream trip. The West Coast shop where he left the car located a used engine, which was swapped in. When the work was finished, Rodgers flew back to Washington and drove the rest of the way to Illinois with no issues. When he arrived home, he and his wife decided his mission had been accomplished and they put the car up for sale.
Rodgers was honest with me. In the years before he bought the car, the back rear-window seal, trunk seal and taillight seals had all failed, causing water to leak into the trunk. The photographs he sent me indicated the rust didn’t appear to have compromised the metal, so trusting him, I purchased the car without an inspection.
Knowing his son was serving in the military near Norfolk, I convinced Rodgers that he should drive the car to Virginia so we could arrange a hand-off, and so he could definitely claim that he had driven the car from coast to coast. Once I inspected the car in Norfolk, I found that it did indeed have minimal rust for a W115, but except the engine, transmission and brakes, not much else was working in the mechanical or electrical systems. I was amazed the car had made it all the way across country. There was a lot to be done, but it was the car I wanted.
Sorting out my W115
Fortunately, the original interior was in good shape, as was the original paint, so I didn’t regret my impetuous decision to buy the W115. I was able to fix the rust, as detailed on pages 76-77, and carefully reshaped a major dent in the left-rear quarter panel to maintain the original paint. With the unstinting help of Mercedes-Benz Club of America member Pierre Hedary, I had all the other systems repaired and renewed.
Since finishing the car, I’ve made some long trips with it, most recently to Florida for the Daytona 500. We’re still continuing to replace a few parts, including a rebuilt voltage regulator and alternator. We decided to rebuild the transmission to cure a whine; upon its removal, we noticed a crack in the exhaust manifold. We replaced that by buying the drivetrain from another W115, useful in case I ever need another engine or transmission.
The good thing is that none of these projects is particularly complicated, nor do I have to have a diagnostic computer to identify any problems that need to be fixed.
Now, the car shines and runs perhaps even better than new, purring like a kitten, and is my daily driver. Whenever I stop, it draws more crowds than even the old Rolls-Royce I restored a few years ago.
I took on this project, like other cars I had worked on, because my wife was fighting ovarian cancer and I couldn’t stray far from home while caring for her. During this period, many MBCA members who learned of my wife’s struggles provided support and encouragement. I finished the car about the same time as my wife died when we ran out of options to keep the cancer at bay. We fought hard together until the battle could be fought no longer.
Somehow, there’s a sense of completeness now to living back within a few blocks of the neighborhood where I lived and where my son was born 40 years ago. Memories always come flooding back when I drive these familiar streets in almost the same car that I was driving back then.
SPECIFICATIONS
1975 Mercedes-Benz 230 (W115)
TYPE: Four-door, five-passenger sedan
ENGINE: 2,308cc, inline 4-cylinder OHC
TRANSMISSION: 4-speed automatic
HORSEPOWER: 93 hp at 4,800 rpm
TORQUE: 125 lb-ft at 2,500 rpm (SAE net)
LENGTH: 195.5 in
CURB WEIGHT: 3,230 lb
With fewer than 90,000 units ever produced, finding a W115 in decent shape was never going to be easy; in fact it took me 15 years of false starts and dashed hopes to locate this one.
Worth the wait: With the exception of a major dent in the left-rear quarter panel and rust in the trunk and under the rear seat, the W115’s original paint and interior were in good shape, easing the burden of restoration.
With the invaluable assistance of Pierre Hedary, I’ve been able to restore and replace all the mechanical systems requiring attention.