As my mind wandered a bit, this a.m., I finally sought the answer to a couple questions I've had since beginning my MB diesel journey. I'm sure many on this forum already knew this, but, maybe there are some newer members, such as myself, that didn't......
OM606
The abbreviation OM means Oelmotor (oil engine), and stands for a Daimler-Benz engine that uses any kind of light fuel oil as fuel (diesel engine).

W123
W means “Wagen” cart. Karre, Wagen, Karren, Kofferkuli. car.

I feel better, now. Life's simple pleasures.

Thanks, I enjoyed finding this out.

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1983 240D Manual Transmission
123.123 - 616.912

Yes yes.....no problem. I, too, enjoyed learning this. Of course, it led my mind directly to "VW". As many know, Adolf Hitler named the original "Beetle", the "peoples car".
Volks-folks-people and "W", just like MB, wagen-karren-car....VW or Peoples Car. The plan was any German family that wanted one could afford it. Kinda like Henry and the Model T... I'm certain both Henry and Adolf would be astounded to see the price that pristine examples of their cars are commanding today!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Beetle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_Through_Joy

I have a '56 (oval window) with a sunroof, they are fairly scarce.

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"I applaud your elaborate system of denial"

As Sgt. Shultz used to say: "Very interesting". Thanks for the link. I'd bet the '56 "oval" is worth some pretty crazy cash? The air cooled vee dubs were some of my favorite, early (60's,70's), mechanical/wrenching car experiences and memories! Miss those guys.... Cheers!

I'm old and remember pop's 1954 VW Kombi, this was the basic Typ II van ('bus') with no headliner not door panels in the back although it did have the two bench seats .

I ran an indie VW Garage in a college town in the 1970's - good times, most fun job I ever had .

The old air cooled Beetles are still good reliable and fun daily drivers as long as you understand they're death traps in a serious collision .

OTOH, I manged to over turn my 1953 'Zwitter' (late split rear window) Beetle going abut 85 MPH and did in fact rebuild the car, I think it's now in Japan .

Keeping them stock makes them far more economical and longer lasting, the early 1100 and 1200 engines weren't very fast but went along just fine .

My raggedy "survivor" 1959 #113 DeLuxe Beetle is still 6 volts and 36 horsepower engine .

Looks pretty bad, the younger kids love it, I hate "patina" .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Thanks for the "info."

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Marshall Welch
Seattle, WA
1982 300D-T

Agree 100% about "patina ". And then there's the custom guys actually painting cars to look like that. ???

I used to go to VW shows. (early '90's). They always kept the 'ovals' seperate. Typically, for every 10 or so, one would be a sunroof. And this is SoCal, where theres still a lot of beetles around, , ,

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"I applaud your elaborate system of denial"

Is there going to be whining if this thread follows old VW's for a while ? .

I'm always interested in learning new things but don't wish to piss anyone off.

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

hahaha...I was wondering the exact same thing! Perhaps it will be suggested a "new thread" is started? Anyway, just wanted to share a bit of my "air cooled" past. I had a few different models. My "fave" was a '70 Squareback. That car had Bosch electronic fuel injection! Used to go to the local dealer for parts (most, if not all, from the fatherland, back then). The service dept/shop/garage was a very cool place to visit. Completely different "vibe" from the "American" dealers of the day. Anyway, my poor Type III had bad rust at the top of the front inner fenders, below the "A" pillar (and lots of other places). The junk yard offerings weren't much better, so I ordered a couple new front fenders. They were $98/ea., in primer, from Germany...I was outraged! LOL If you use an inflation calculator it works out to about $700/ea. in todays market. Needless to say, I bought 'em. Absolutely loved that car. Amazing amount of room and huge cargo area with the seat folded down. Like a small SUV before there was such a thing! I could go on and on, of course.....good times in that car
https://germancarsforsaleblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/t34.jpg not mine.....

That's good looking .

Mom bought a cobalt blue Squareback in 1967 from Brookline VW in Mass.


That was the very first year of the twin port 1600CC engine , your car had Bosch D-Jetronic F.I., crude but _very_ reliable until some fool touched it...

I had various Typ III's, in 1976 I bought a junked 1966 Squareback and an engine, some tires, a un damaged bonnet and assembled it all and drove it to Guatemala City, C.A. - a most memorable trip that included out running a Mexican Federale in a 1974 Ford LTD South of Mexico City .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

WOW!!! Awesome story. All of it! None of my Type III experiences even come close (most involved girls and the rear cargo area). I didn't realize it at the time, but after getting my "first" 240D, I started to remember my old veedubs and a LOT of the engineering/parts/assemblies were similar in both of those cars. That thing was a little tank. Damn road salt!

I wonder if the O.E.M. engineers shuffle from one company to another as needed ? .

Certainly there's a lot of similar engineering in any German (includes Bavaria) vehicles .

Anyone who owned/rode in/worked on air cooled VW's in the 50's through the end has stories, some good some bad, many *very* educational .

A tip : when out running cops in the country, it's critical to get far enough ahead so when you stop to hide there's no dust clouds for them to notice and know where to begin searching for you....

When you're sliding your old split screen ('52 ~ '67) VW van on it's side in the dirt, be sure to have the crappy sliding door window closed as it acts like a scoop and will quickly cover you in dirt, stones, beer cans and whatever else in on the embankment .


I have lots us useful (stupid ?) VW tips and tricks like this and oddly enough still enjoy driving older air cooled VW, always, ALWAYS install and use seat belts ! .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

What is the word the "T" stands for ? .

('T' means station wagon but the actual word in German I don't know )

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better