The 280SE 3.5 coupés and cabriolets are all about promenade glamour, but the 280SE 3.5 saloon has to be one of the most subtle Q-cars around. The uninitiated might think ‘Teutonic taxi,’ but it’s all the more appreciated by those in the know for its understatement.

Here’s a top Merc that doesn’t look like it wants to annexe a country, a progenitor of the modern-era S-class but without the bluster. It’s one of the most tasteful Mercs there’s ever been and that’s one reason hardly anyone takes any notice of it.

Paul Bracq’s exquisite styling amounts to a manifesto of less-is-more. And in the case of the 3.5 saloon, produced only for 1971 and 1972, it’s even more so: in practical terms the fuel-injected 200bhp V8 gives you everything that’s great about the 280SE 3.5 coupés and cabriolets without the complexity – at a fraction of the price. Here is a car you’d be proud not to be noticed in, which is all the better considering it could top 125mph and whisk you to 60mph in under 9 seconds. And the only giveaway is the extra digits on the bootlid…