Corporate social responsibility executive Paul Moreno, 39, says the endurance of his vintage Mercedes-Benz is testament to the model’s design
“I am driving a 1982 Mercedes-Benz 230E. This series, W123, is probably the best saloon car of the 20th century, and it’s all the more special because it’s an original Zung Fu import, and was first registered here in January 1983.
You could say my family goes way back with Mercedes-Benz. My father owned a 1972 Mercedes-Benz 280S in Hong Kong – a true tank of a car – but my diplomat godfather introduced me to the W123 in 1994-95, when he shipped his 1985 Mercedes-Benz 230E to our home in Manila on his retirement from the Philippine Foreign Service. It was so smooth, and from then on I always wanted a W123, but was never sure if I could enjoy the car if it was sitting in Manila.
Then, on the Friday of this year’s Lunar New Year weekend, the Hong Kong Dog Rescue in Ap Lei Chau rang my wife Ritchie to say that a miniature dachshund was looking for a home. So we picked up our new family member, Munchkin. We were waiting for the vet to finish his pre-adoption check-up when, suddenly, an all-original W123 parked in front of us. It had a few dings and some rust bubbles, but wasn’t bad for a 93,000-mile [149,668km] car.
I took a risk and bought it “as seen”, and it was repaired by an 85-year-old W123 aficionado recommended to me by Carl Yuen, the vice-chairman of the Classic Car Club of Hong Kong. The W123’s parts can still be sourced here or online for reasonable prices in the US and Europe.
My wife calls our car “The Jalopy” after Archie Andrews’ car in the Archie Comics.
It has a bit of a steering “play”, but it also has the signature Mercedes-Benz MB-Tex upholstery smell, which triggers memories of my dad’s and my godfather’s cars. If it is well-maintained, the W123 230E will bring many years of fun. I wouldn’t mind the series’ six-cylinder 2.8-litre engine, however.