Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 1960 Mercedes-Benz 180b
During my junkyard travels, I document plenty of discarded Mercedes-Benzes from the 1970s and 1980s. Earlier Stuttgart machinery is a bit tougher to find, though I had managed to run across a couple of 1950s W120 proto-E-Class sedans prior to now. Here's the third boneyard W120 to fall before my camera: a very solid 1960 180b in a Denver yard.
The W120 (and W121, which was identical except for engine type) was built from 1953 through 1962 and was the first unibody Mercedes-Benz. It is the direct ancestor of the present-day E-Class, beginning a line of midsize cars that included the legendary W110, W114 and W123 as the decades went by.
This one had been popping up on Denver-region online classifieds for quite a while, with an asking price of around $500. There were no takers, and the seller finally gave up and sold it to Pick Your Part. Junkyard shoppers bought most of the interior and dash components (or perhaps someone bought it for parts, then sent the rest on that final tow-truck ride), so some of its parts will live on in other W120s.
There isn't rust to speak of, though a few holes had been cut into the floor for some reason.
The engine is a 1.8-liter straight-four, rated at 78 horsepower and 107 pound-feet.
