Mercedes service centre,not what you expect!

[W124Bob]

Came across this via Flickr,anyone ID the country.No clues in any of the photos on the site other than the photos are taken by the owner.
And here it is in a better state,wheels dont suit(IMO) but other than that a very nice 240D
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74980228@N08/
heres the link to the W123 collection on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/w123/pool/

[r129sl]

Smoke silver, nice.

The registration plate looks like an Indian one to me.

I see it is RHD. Was it stolen from anyone on here?

[nakulan7]

Why assume it is stolen?

That plate is from the state of Maharashtra in India.

[r129sl]

nakulan7 said:

Why assume it is stolen?

Because w123s are commonly stolen from the streets of London and exported to Africa and the east. It was a joke.

[JAGS]

Definitely an Indian Registration.
From Mumbai to be precise (the MH01 bit gives that away)

[Nikhil0673]

Hey folks greetings from Mumbai , India......nice to see my car here. The place in question is a plot of land an enthusiast friend who fixes these has been given to use in the now space starved/exorbitant Mumbai city...it's umkemped but he knows his stuff and getting surfacing done or keeping the joint clean is not his strength...main dealers are as daft as they come. At times I shudder thinking what is going to happen to our new W212 once visits to them become eminent.

This car was custom ordered by the Indian govt in 1984 for the Asian games ...it was part of some 2300 odd w123's ordered to transfer athletes from their residence to the sports village...most covered barely 500 km over the 15 day event and were auctioned off to the public immediately after. I say custom ordered = no vacuum on doors/ factory mechanical locking, underbody steel plate, Japanese super king airconditioner ...dunno if this is custom stuff..but no vacuum is like nirvana. Wheels came with the car..still deciding what to do...as i have found the only color steel hubcaps dont go with on the w123 is mine ( best judged in person). The reg plates are considered special/ adding up to a lucky number 9... considered good for business here....not my doing/came with the car...although been meaning to get better quality ones made. FYI she is my daily driver..and working at making her the finest example in India hopefully...now you know the money is going into the car and not the mech cheerio

PS: r129sl.....jokes aside stealing a w123 and the shipping it all the way india would be awfully stupid..as the sea freight would kill the economics...Africa perhaps as most of the movement could be done/ is being done overland/ driven most of the way...ultra .high end modern stolen cars were being imported with fudged papers ...but that stopped recently when some folks from your embassy were busted for the same....that apart mostly new stolen cars were have been making their way into india until...the stuff started being made here officially. Exotics are still imported officially and the market for stollen cars in india is 99% dead

Edited by Nikhil0673 on Sunday 9th December 20:26

Edited by Nikhil0673 on Sunday 9th December 20:35

[r129sl]

Does MB still manufacture (or assemble CKD) cars in India? They used to make w124s there. Some of those cars have found there way here. They're almost always dark blue with grey MB-Tex, either E220 or E250 diesel saloons, on 'R' registration.

[Nikhil0673]

Yes they do and the range has expanded to include C, E, S, ML, B. engines 2L diesel/petro, 3 liter diesel/petrol..the 2 liter engine is completely assembled in India as well...going fwd engines to will come in CKD.. Classic to Avantgarde for C & E, S only in avantgard & long version. They have one of the best paint booths/line. As you rightly pointed several w124's were sent to UK and Singepore ( taxi duty) as the local market refused to buy a w124 still being offered in 1998. since then local launches are in tandem with global launches right down to trim variants and face lifts. Links to our recently puchased Indian assembled w212 .. http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w212-e-class/16871...

Edited by Nikhil0673 on Monday 10th December 11:02