Just to add to the Mercedes lore stories. I was buying some interior items from a guy who was parting out his W123. The car had 489,000 miles on the original engine and he was t-boned at about 50mph on the passenger side. The rear side door would no longer open, but had there been a passenger they would have not been injured. I spent about 20 minutes with a massive sledgehammer trying to get the door to budge about an inch from the inside in order to remove some trim. Despite going at it for quite a while (and I'm not a lightweight), I was unable to budge the door. That incident really impressed me with the safety features considering I could probably punch a fist sized impression on a newer car.

On these forums, there are crash pics posted and it seems very often that the W123 is able to drive itself home while the other guy waits for the tow truck.

Dkr.