So I've been looking for a clunker on Gumtree, something for two or three grand, that's reasonably reliable and that i can work on. I had an interesting dalliance with the W123 Mercedes Benz. This series, from 1970 to 1985 apparently possesses the capacity for high mileage and has been dubbed "million mile cat". Like the Rover, the older Merc's are "simple and a pleasure to work on". That's my kind of car! This evening I came across a motoring article featuring a W123 300D diesel with 3,4 million kilometres on the clock. The 86 year old owner has used it as a taxi in Belgium and reckons he just changed the oil regularly and has avoided any major rebuilds. That's gold right there.
But, you know we live on a rural property and the driveway was designed by a web-footed mountain goat Essentially, we lose bits of the driveway each time a good downpour arrives and its been some years since two-wheel drive access has been possible. So negotiating with said Merc might involve a caveman type drag rather than a cruise. So Plan B I designed was to look for a survivor of the smallest 4WD ute in recent decades, the Subaru "Brumby". These went out of production in 1995, but like the W123 Merc, they have a bit of a reputation for longevity. They won't routinely pull out a million k's, but many achieve between 5 and 800 thousand. In the USA they're known as the Subaru "Brat", something about Recreational All Terrain, because of its higher ground clearance and for-wheel drive configuration. Strangely, they normally run as a front wheel drive, and when going off-road, the rear wheels are engaged. Quite unconventional, they have been the vehicle of choice for adventurous types for many years.
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