Tuesday morning I had an appointment at the repair shop at the end of my street to bring Black Betty in for a transmission fluid/ filter change, and to have the SK-700 Jr. shift kit installed. As I was mounting my Trek to ride home, I spied the front end of a W123 parked behind the shop, in a suspiciously nose-high attitude. I went back inside and asked the shop owner about the car; he'd bought it to yank the turbo-diesel for his '46 Chevy pickup project, and was selling off the rolling shell for scrap price.
And so it transpired, the next day when Mrs. VCH and I drove back to the shop to pick up the Suburban, we headed home with me at the helm of the Sub (with Baby VCH safely car-seated in the back), and her steering the 300D at the end of a tow strap.
Mrs. VCH being a seasoned veteran of somewhat sketchy tow operations, we managed to get the 300D home without any real drama. The brakes of the W123 easily stopped both it and the two-and-a-half-ton Suburban, the tow strap stayed taught, and Baby VCH was asleep in her car seat when we got home- so we quickly untied the 300D and headed back to the garage to pick up the car we'd originally driven to the shop (Krautbeaterwagen).
The parts car is surprisingly rust free, came with a clear title, and had 4 nearly new tires- alone worth what the car cost. KBW will be getting the good fenders, and possibly some other choice parts. The interior of the parts car is in amazingly good shape, too. Anyone need any dark maroon W123 bits? 
