Let's not overlook the "hidden" quality in a Benz, which for my $$ is the most important, and which I hope remains today in late model MBs. Ever been in a head on with an MB?

Two weeks after her 17th birthday, my daughter t-boned another car ( a lightweight Japanese sedan) at about 35mph. And like a cue ball hitting it's object sguare, that 190e stopped dead in its tracks while the other car did a 180 and was so crumpled that the passenger had the be "cut out"of the car.(no serious injury.)

My daughter and her passenger? They unfastened their seatbelts, opened the doors and stepped out unharmed.

Why? Because the energy of the crash was contained entirely between the front bumper and the front wheel well. The rest of the car was entirely undamaged, inside and out. Even so, the car was totaled!

The moment I saw that car, I knew I'd never own anything else but a Mercedes Benz. Now about the only thing on four tires I'd be leery about lockin' horns with in my 1988 300CE would be an Excursion. And no, the girls will never get behind the wheel of this one! You just gotta feel safe, really safe, in a Benz.

Just my $02.

And in reply to a previous post, it was American Machine and Foundry (AMF) that bought Harley Davidson in the 70's and actually made significant investment in the company when it was dead in the water. I believe it was during the AMF years that the York PA assembly plant was purchased and R&D began on the Evolution engine, which when introduced in 1984 restored quality to the HD line. The rest, as they say, is history.