My introduction to Mercedes-Benz cars came in the form of a 1982 280TE wagon – bought new by my folks when we lived overseas. It was the early 1980s, and as the regional manager for his company my dad had to get something that displayed an air of the successes of his company. In Hong Kong, nothing said “success” like a Mercedes-Benz. Well, you could get a Rolls, but those were more the domain of hotels and real estate barons. I recall that we looked at the BMW 7-series and the Mercedes wagon. It always stuck with me that one of the reasons the Mercedes won out was because the seats in the bimmer “pinched” my dad’s butt. Probably more importantly, our family of five fit very nicely in the wagon, which had the optional third row seating.

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