MERCEDES-BENZ 300 TE

1985-1996

Price £3500-£12,000

From when Mercs were hewn from granite. The 300 TE isn’t the most powerful family hauler on our list (180bhp and 188lb ft from its 3.0-litre straight six), but for understated cool, few come close. We had one when I was growing up, complete with rear-facing boot seats (handy for six-year-olds to blow raspberries at following traffic) and it remains the car my dad held onto for the longest – well over 120,000 miles by the time he decided to get rid of it.

ONE WE FOUND 1992 MERCEDESBENZ 300 TE, 183K MILES, £5000