The Mercedes-Benz 230CE is from a time when Mercedes built cars to last forever. Not figuratively — literally forever. Everything about it feels solid, from the heavy click of the door handles to the reassuring thunk when it shuts. It doesn’t so much close as seal you inside a small chamber of German over-engineering.

The styling is straight-edged, restrained, and beautifully proportioned. There are no spoilers or badges screaming for attention. It’s just quietly elegant, the sort of car that looks perfectly at home outside a Georgian townhouse or gliding through the Alps on its way to a discreet hotel.

Under the bonnet sits a 2.3-litre four-cylinder engine that hums away like a sewing machine made of iron. It’s not about speed — it’s about smoothness, refinement and effortlessness. You don’t drive it quickly; you let it move with a sense of calm purpose, the way good cars used to before everything became turbocharged and hysterical.

Inside, it’s a masterclass in sensible luxury. Big, clear dials, soft seats that seem designed for actual people rather than racing drivers, and materials that have clearly been tested on other planets for durability. Every switch and lever still feels like it will last another forty years.

The 230CE carries itself with quiet dignity. It isn’t flash or showy. It’s simply a beautifully made, beautifully judged piece of motoring history — a reminder of when Mercedes built cars not for image, but for life.

There are quicker coupes, there are rarer ones, and there are certainly newer ones. But few have the same sense of timeless quality. The 230CE is motoring at its most honest: elegant, dependable and wonderfully unhurried.