Her fourth owner, "CLara" came into my life on a sunny Saturday in January 2016 while driving past a car yard in my 1972 Mercedes 280SE 3.5 sedan. Always a Sydney car, Australian delivered from new, there were a few paint blemishes here and there. Her body lines and her interior however, luxury options controlled by 72 buttons set in a sea of black leather, won me over during the test drive. She was fully detailed when I picked her up on Tuesday morning and has been a fun, if occasionally expensive, companion since then.

Mechanically, she is exactly as she came out of the factory in Germany. I have added a few upgrades, including: chromed doors sills from a later-series C215; small chrome "V8" badges near both front wheel arches; brighter LED repeater signals in the wing mirrors; the additional interior wood found in the CL600 V12 flagship and new, brighter interior LED lights.