My New Year's present to myself was a 3 litre 1988 Mercedes E class. Here's a quick report of our first 1,500km together.

Firstly, wow - what a car! Despite being 22 years old, it's astonishingly better than the W203 C class I owned from new and had up until a few years ago. Quieter, smoother, more refined - not a squeak or rattle to be heard.

Just to hammer home how hushed the cabin environment actually is - I was driving through a small village when I became aware of a faint intermittent whistling noise - after some searching, I realised it was the sound of the air passing through a slightly blocked left nostril!!!

Performance wise, I have no complaints either. I've yet to take her much above 4,000 rpm, but she feels every bit as powerful as the 180bhp in the manual suggests. Of course with a car like this, the journey becomes every bit as enjoyable as the destination - and it's more about wafting around in comfort than trying to get there fast.

Problems so far? Not a great deal to be honest. I shall be getting the tracking done (feels a wee bit out), and a re-gas of the air con will be needed before summer. The rear door hinges could do with an oil.

Fuel economy - first fill was 11.5l/100km (25mpg) - but after a bottle of injector cleaner and some driving around it's now steadied out at around 9.9 - or almost 29mpg in old money. For a 22 year old straight six with mechanical injection, that's astonishing.

Everything works - including the leak-free sunshine roof and the memory seats, the automatic gearbox oil looks like it was changed yesterday, and in 1,500km the engine hasn't consumed a single drop of oil - which is always a comforting indicator on something of that vintage.

Likes? I love the 'eighties squareness' of the front end, and my son loves the aircraft style 'fasten your seatbelts' warning.

Regrets? My biggest regret is not buying one sooner.

Edited by rtj70 on 15/03/2010 at 20:11