A few friends of mine, who happen to be BMW and Mercedes dealers (hence the narrow scope of our discussion) were talking about "Home-runs" of the automotive world.

Cars like the:
W123 Mercedes
W124 Mercedes
W126 Mercedes
E30 BMW
E39 BMW
E36 BMW

Cars that are affordable in their age but were indestructible throughout their lives. Cars that are great buys today because they are luxurious, reliable, not expensive to own or work on. What other cars were truly great cars? The W210 was a good car but plagued with rust problems and the W211 just never will have the solid feel of the 123 and 124 cars. Same with the new BMWs the E30 was just so fantastically simple and fun to drive, the E36 was a pure a well rounded chassis, and the E39 was just an indestructible car. It is hard to tell what new cars will withstand the test of time but there really aren't any current cars that come to mind where you just know it will be a great car for the next 30 years. Well maybe the G wagen, but it has been for sale for 30 years and is still good.

Discuss:

What other homeruns can you think of?

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

Original VW Bug.

Early Ford Mustang.

Volvo 244 and 245.

MB 115

I would also include W115/116.

Also the BMW 2002 series.

Early Ford I6's

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

1991-1997 Lincoln Town Car.

Mini Cooper.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Slant-6 Dodge Dart & Plymoutn Valiant.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

The later 4.9L 300 in the F-series was a great motor, I wish I'd gotten a 300 instead of a 351.

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

It would have to be the '98 E300TD - the first Mercedes-Benz diesel passenger car built that came within a second or two of it's gas powered W210 V6 & V8 models in terms of acceleration. A milestone continued in the turbodiesel powered W211 passenger sedans - yet returning even better mileage than the turbodiesel W210.

FWIW, the W210 in my sig. bought new, isn't "plagued by rust."

My friend has a '97 E300D and an '97 E420, we rebuilt both from salvage. The D was rusty as hell, the 420, a flood car, showed ZERO rust. But talk to the Mercedes service guys, look at cars that haven't been washed meticulously, and read the wikipedia page. The W210 did have rust problems. Not knocking your ride, I'm actually looking for a W210 V8 car right now.

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

Volvo 122 S

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

I guess anything is possible to find when buying salvaged cars, even rusted out ones. I've seen several 240Ds rusted out up to their fender wells, our family actually owned one of the rust buckets back in the '80s - but I've yet to see rusted out W210s.

My friends bought a '99 E300TD the same weekend I bought mine in July of 1999. There's no rust on their's either. Another friend has a '98 E300TD from Chicago, IL. no rust there either. If the rust were so widespread, I think my car and my friends' cars should all show signs of being "plagued by rust" by now. - considering the combined miles covered are 300,000 miles. Rusted out W210s are starting to sound like an old wive's tale to me. They're great all around cars by me after 11 years of owning and driving one.

1967-1968 Ford Mustangs and Mercury Cougars.

Apogee of the US muscle cars, easy to work on, reliable, simple, basic, no smog impedimentia, pretty fast for the time, and easy on the eyes..

Plus they were so sexy looking, I have never got so many compliments on a car, by women. Not EVER. My '67 Cougar was beautiful maroon with black vinyl interior. I still miss it.

And I have been driving cars since 1967.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)