Jay Leno Relives the Joy of DIY with a ’66 Mercedes-Benz 230

Jay Leno gets to drive some pretty exotic machines—an original Chrysler Turbine car, the 1907 Thomas that drove around the world in 1908, the Pontiac Firebird from The Rockford Files. But he doesn’t overlook the simpler joys of the automotive world, either. The star of this week’s episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, 1966 Mercedes-Benz 230, is exhibit A.

The green-over-black sedan doesn’t have any special history—in fact, its previous owner didn’t keep any papers on the car. Even the odometer reading is uncertain. The Benz is now owned by Randy Carlson, of Carchaeology, who recently bought it from a fellow whose family hired Carlson to appraise the guy’s fleet of cars, which he had accumulated in several Alabama warehouses.

Carlson has appeared on Leno’s show before, and he and Leno greet each other like old friends. Here they discuss how Carlson got the car—and how he got it home. Carlson decided to take the owner at his word that the Mercedes ran and drove, and when he finally accepted Carlson’s offer to buy the car, Carlson booked a one-way ticket to Alabama.

The 230 got him home to California—in three days, no less—but Carlson admits that “it wasn’t ready for a trip like that.” The shifter was bad, the brake booster had a vacuum leak that caused the engine to stumble whenever he tried to slow down or stop, and the speedometer, heater, gas gauge, and horn were all broken.

Of course, any DIY enthusiast sees such issues as challenges, not as problems. Carlson recounts a diagnostic session in the parking lot of an auto-parts store, where he found, and fixed, what had suddenly made the engine run very roughly: a clogged idle jet on the rear carburetor. Leno knows exactly how satisfying such an experience is. “I used to pride myself on always being able to get [a car] home and then fix it when I get it home,” he says. “Sometimes you like that better than a car that runs all the time, because you’ve bonded with the car. It was wounded, you repaired it, now it loves you …”

The 230 was the middle-of-the-road variant in 1966. This is the short-wheelbase version of the 230, distinguished from the S model by its single, rather than stacked, headlights. It retains its original paint and interior, and under its hood is an inline-six churning out 118 hp. The car sits on 14-inch wheels, with dog-dish hubcaps painted to match the body—the set is an upgrade over the stock, 13-inch rims. It spent most of its life in New York City. At its new home in California, and under Carlson’s care, the brake booster has been replaced, the carbs cleaned, and the valves adjusted—”it sounded like marbles in a tin can,” he says.

Only 118 horsepower might sound like too little, but Leno likes it. “It’s so fun to use all the power, all the time—just put your foot down!” Carlson’s still working out the kinks—the heater still doesn’t work, and the clutch pedal falls to the floor once in a while. In fact, the pedal does just that on their drive around Burbank. Leno is unfazed. He pulls the pedal up with his foot and pumps it a few times to prime the hydraulic fluid.

Like Leno, we love to celebrate the arcane and the unusual in the automotive world—just as much as we love to celebrate humble vehicles like this ’66 Mercedes 230. It’s exactly the kind of classic we would (and could!) park in our own driveways. Just ask Eric Weiner …