Mix luxury appointments (durable leather seats, real wood interiors) with a smooth, nearly unmatched "ride," and you have the Mercedes-Benz 420-Class, specifically the 420SEL sedan. In fact, many drivers believe these early-'90s MBs to be more luxurious and better built that present-day Mercedes, and some consider them to be among the finest sedans ever built. They were, to be succinct, rock-solid automobiles.

The 420SEL was long and heavy, but a 4.2-liter single-overhead-cam V8 that generated 201 hp, coupled with a 4-speed automatic transmission, kept them humming along the highways very nicely. The 420 provided ample room for occupants (nearly 40 inches of legroom in the rear seats, for example) and comfortably seated five.

Standard equipment included anti-lock brakes, power locks and power windows, air conditioning, and airbags for the driver and passenger. Other standard and optional features included automatic climate control, bucket seats, power steering, power telescopic steering wheel, cruise control, headlight cleaners, power heated windows, and alloy wheels.