This 1979 Mercedes-Benz 280TE Was Trapped Inside An Italian Garage For 38 Years, Now It's Probably The Most Valuable W123 Ever

One of my favorite summertime automotive events in Los Angeles is the yearly Sunday morning preview of the upcoming Gooding Christie's Pebble Beach auction, where the auction house gets together a few dozen of its most enticing lots in a warehouse in Van Nuys and invites enthusiasts and potential bidders to come check them out. While Gooding's star of the sale wasn't present — Carroll Shelby's own Daytona coupe — there was a lot of heat on display.

We're talking a 1963 Ferrari 250 P and an unrestored 1961 250 GT SWB Competizione, a 1959 Maserati Birdcage, a patina'd 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, and a stunning 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Lungo Spider. But every person I talked to unanimously agreed that one car was by far the coolest thing going up for sale: this 1979 Mercedes-Benz 280TE, which was stuck in an Italian garage for almost 40 years and will probably end up being the most expensive W123 ever sold. (In fact, it already probably has been.)

The wagon was parked against the back wall, behind a 1966 Ferrari Dino 206 S Berlinetta and a 1967 Porsche 910, but it still drew everyone's attention. That's partially because of this 280TE's beautiful Nickel Green paint drawing you in, a color that was discontinued after '79. Then, up close, you see that the car is in literally perfect condition, a seeming impossibility in the world of W123s. But the real shock to the system comes when you peer inside and see the Moss Green MB-Tex and Blue-Green cloth interior, with full green carpeting and the same colors and fabrics even on the rear-facing third-row seats. I didn't get many great photos of it, so it's worth looking through Gooding's full gallery to see just how gorgeous this car is.

Daniel Golson/Jalopnik

So how did this S123 (the S designation is used for wagons while W is for sedans, yes I know that's confusing) make it this many years basically untouched? Its original Italian owner purchased it in 1979, ticking almost every option box and doing factory delivery. He drove it for a few months before parking it in his garage in Avellino, a village near Naples. An earthquake hit in 1980, with the landslide trapping the 280TE in the garage but somehow not damaging it. The car hadn't even been registered yet. It remained in there until 2018, when it was extracted from the garage unscathed.

As it currently sits the car is in completely original, unrestored condition, with only 3,790 miles on the odometer. Gooding says it "has been maintained by the renowned Scott Grundfor Company, which has performed only basic maintenance and replaced safety parts, prioritizing the car's incredible state of preservation."

You've probably been assuming this 280TE would have a big estimate attached, and you'd be right, but you may be underestimating it. The auction is being held without reserve, and Gooding estimates it'll go for between $130,000 to $160,000. With the right people in the room, I think it could hammer for a lot more than that. As the auction house puts it, this very well could be the nicest original S123 in existence.

"But Daniel, that price is completely absurd," I can hear you saying. And as someone whose first car was a pretty nice but higher-mileage 1984 300TD, I agree — at first. Do I think W123s in general are worth this much money, or even close to it? No, not really. At least not if we're talking one of the U.S.-spec diesels, or a more regular Euro-spec gasser. 

But a few years ago I got to drive a manual 1979 280TE owned by Mercedes itself, a white over tan example with about 30,000 miles on the clock, and my God was it spectacular. The 2.8-liter inline-6 is the best and most desirable engine offered in these cars, and it was so good to drive that I suddenly no longer missed my old diesel. As far as W123 experiences go, this Italian wagon will be about as good as you can possibility get in 2026.

And there's precedent. Good condition W123s, even U.S.-spec diesels (especially wagons), regularly go for $40,000 if not a lot more. Two years ago a 57k-mile 300TD sold on Bring a Trailer for $99,500. OK, yeah, these are a different animal, but also in 2024 Bonhams sold a V8-powered 500TE AMG for $138,000. The real heads know about W123 specialists Mercedes Motoring, which has sold its fair share of absurdly expensive wagons: a green 240TD sold for $115,000, this black 300TD was $143,000, and this rare green 300TD went for $175,000,

But the real precedent? Mercedes Motoring sold this exact 280TE multiple times after it was rescued from its garage entombment, and their page for the car has more details on its amazing story. In January 2020 the car was sold for $155,000, and it was sold again for $195,000 in May 2022. Out of all the wonderful cars being auctioned in Monterey in two weeks, I'll be the most eager to see what this 280TE goes for.