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Mercedes-Benz W123 300D Starts Right Up After Being Submerged by Flood Waters

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Devastating floods in Spain killed hundreds of people and destroyed thousands of cars but this W123 300D needed only a new battery.

According to an AP News report over 200 people tragically lost their lives in the recent floods that hit the Valencia area of Spain. The report goes on to state that over 44,000 insurance claims were filed for flood damaged cars. The scope of the human and vehicular devastation is staggering. That makes the story of this Mercedes-Benz W123 300D even more remarkable. The Spanish newspaper El Mundo, reports that the car is owned by Iván Felisi Rubio. He had parked the car in an underground parking garage located about 45 minutes south of Valencia when the storm hit.

“The street was a meter and a half deep in water, imagine what the garage was like, which is also in a flood zone, an old boulevard. The emergency services emptied the garage of water, and I went to check on the car,” Rubio explained. The news was not good. The entire car up to the roof was covered in mud. It had been fully submerged under the flood waters. That would be a death sentence for just about any car. Even a modern Mercedes-Benz could not survive that situation. But the W123 300D is a different beast. It is world renowned for being one of the toughest vehicles ever created. And sure enough, after draining the water from the engine and installing a new battery, the car fired right up. A video posted on the ES2562 YouTube channel shows the car driving right out of the garage.

Mercedes-Benz W123 300D

Flooded Mercedes

The Mercedes-Benz W123 300D was built for about a decade from 1976 to 1985. It is a simple and slow car. The diesel inline 5-cylinder engine makes roughly 125 horsepower. The 0 to 60 mph time can be measured with a calendar. But this car is not about speed, it is about durability. They run forever. There are almost no electronics to get damaged by water and mud. “The only thing I did was change the battery, drain the water from the engine and check the oil. It started straight away,” Rubio explains. His plan now is to give it a good cleaning, which will be a task in itself. But at least the car runs and drives and is not another casualty of the storm.

They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To

mud covered Mercedes

Modern cars are packed with electronics. And that is for just regular internal combustion cars. EVs are almost nothing but electronic components. Do you think a single EV could survive a flood like this? Rubio doesn’t think so. “People are convinced that the electric car is the future, and they are very wrong,” he said. But no matter if you are talking about an EV or ICE car or even a moped. There are not many vehicles out there that could survive a flood like this. The W123 300D is a legend, and nobody makes vehicles like that anymore.

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it’s driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.



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