Saved From a Crumbling Barn: This 1965 Mercedes-Benz W110 Fintail Lives to Drive Againcroll through any classic car listing today and you'll find thousands of vehicles ready for a new home. But for every running classic on the market, there are countless more hidden away in forgotten sheds and barns, slowly waiting for someone to remember they exist. This 1965 Mercedes-Benz W110 nearly didn't get that chance — but luck, and good timing, were on its side.According to its license plate, the German sedan had been sitting untouched for more than twenty years. The barn sheltering it, almost certainly older than the car itself, had finally given up the fight against time and weather. With the structure slated for demolition, the W110 was on a fast track to the scrapyard — the all-too-common fate of cars trapped inside buildings about to come down.That's when the crew behind the YouTube channel "Iron City Garage" got a last-minute call. The owner agreed to let them pull the Mercedes out rather than let it rot, and the rescue went off without a hitch. The team extracted the car without bringing the failing barn down on top of it, and to everyone's delight, the old Benz came out the other side intact and in surprisingly solid shape.AdvertisementAdvertisementWhether it's a genuine unrestored survivor is hard to say for certain. The blue paint matches the factory specification, and there's no obvious rust to be found. Aside from four completely flat tires, the exterior looks remarkably presentable for something that spent decades in hibernation.Inside, the story is much the same. Sure, the driver's seat wears a patch of masking tape and the carpets have seen better days, but the cabin has weathered its long storage impressively well. The interior appears entirely original, even if the body may have been resprayed at some point. The engine bay tells a similar tale — enough honest weathering to suggest it has never been touched by a restorer.For anyone unfamiliar with the model, the W110 is one of the forefathers of today's Mercedes-Benz E-Class. It arrived in 1961 to replace the W120/W121 and stayed in production until 1968, serving as the company's everyday workhorse throughout the decade. Roughly 628,000 were built.The W110 belonged to the "Fintail" line — Heckflosse in German — which also included the larger W111 and W112. While those upmarket models carried inline-six engines, the W110 launched with four-cylinder power. Collectors generally divide its run into a First Series (1961–1965) and a Second Series (1965–1968). Early cars offered a 1.9-liter gas engine or a 2.0-liter diesel, while later versions received updated four-cylinder units and even a six.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis particular four-door looks to be a First Series 1965 example fitted with the diesel — the 190Dc, good for a modest 54 horsepower and 87 pound-feet of torque. Mercedes produced more than 200,000 diesel W110s in that early window, yet they remain an uncommon sight on American roads. That rarity alone makes a strong case for whoever takes it on next to get it cleaned up and back on the pavement where it belongs.