Abandoned house with incredible Mercedes W123 has very cool back story
- An urban explorer found a Mercedes W123 in an abandoned house
- The late owner of the house had an incredible back story
- He previously worked for the Department of Defense
Published on Jan 23, 2025 at 1:40 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Jan 23, 2025 at 1:40 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
An urban explorer discovered a pristine Mercedes W123 stashed away inside an abandoned house in Florida.
The late owner of the house – a man named Mike – had a seriously interesting back story having grown up in the US before falling in love with martial arts and moving to Japan.
After spending time out in Japan, Mike decided to head back to the US and opened up his own karate school.
He was later approached by the government and asked to join the Department of Defense – where he was given a very special job.
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The late owner of the abandoned house had an interesting life
Urban explorer Steve Ronin, who previously discovered a partially-built tank in an abandoned mansion, shared the story of Mike and his Florida home on his YouTube channel.
According to Ronin, upon his return to the US Mike set up a successful karate school and eventually his skills caught the attention of the US government.
Mike was approached by officials, who asked him to become one of the president’s bodyguards.
See, we told you it was an interesting story – in fact, the story, and the related house, was so interesting it lead some folks to question if a real-life James Bond lived there.
As the video continued, Ronin could be seen making his way through the abandoned house, where he uncovered plenty of karate-related items and even an old organ that still worked.
He also discovered groceries still in the kitchen cupboards, family photographs, and plenty of old clothing still neatly folded away inside drawers.
This Mercedes W123 was stashed away
However, the most exciting find was the Mercedes W123 hidden away inside a garage.
Mercedes launched the W123, designed by the legendary Bruno Sacco, in 1975.
It isn’t clear from the clip which model year this example is from, but production on the W123 ended in 1986 meaning it’s at least 38-years old.
Although the vintage vehicle has been sat for several year it still appeared to be in great condition with clean paintwork and what looked to be original tires.
A quick glance at the interiors showed that the inside has held up as well as the outside, with the upholstery looking fresh and clean – despite the car being almost four decades old.
The Mercedes W123 also has its original 3.0-liter inline-five engine which can produce 119 horsepower.
And as nod to his former career there was even a Department of Defense sticker on its bumper that showed the vehicle was last registered back in 1997.
Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Across her career she's covered a wide variety of topics, including celebrity, cryptocurrency, politics, true crime and just about everything in between.