It's unparalleled solidity (listen to that exquisite door clunk), coupled with low depreciation, are reasons enough to buy one. I'd heard that newer Mercedes were less well built, but this is beautifully finished."Lucy Benzecry: 30, from Fulham, owns a photographic production company, Cold Snap Productions. Currently between carsIt didn't take long for Lucy to assess the E240 as too cumbersome for the mean streets of Fulham "I think this would be a nuisance to park It's definitely more of a motorway car. I also think it's more of a male car and not a young person's car.

It's certainly not my image - I feel too grown up driving this." Lucy wasn't taken by the styling either: "I find modern cars all a bit homogenous. Maybe I'II get used to them." John spends most of his time in his Merc commuting between London and his holiday home in France, so liked the idea of side-impact airbags. It's all a bit too imposing for me."Phil O'Malley: 41, and his partner Kathy Chesterman, from Maidstone, care worker and teacher. I like to feel I'm more a part of the driving process, but in this, especially with the auto shift, you're a bit remote. "The French drive terribly, so survivability is very important.

This is ergonomically improved, too: the driver is more enveloped. Currently drives a Mercedes 300TECompared with John's older Mercedes estate "our" car felt lighter but not as quick "It feels a little sluggish from rest. I'm not a fan of those headlights either, which is a shame because the rest of the car is very nice. Currently drives a Ford Escort estate "This is much more elegant than my brother-in-law's J-reg Merc; that's a bit of a battleship," were Stephanie's first words. "When I think of Mercedes I think of expert engineering, very solid cars, but a bit flash.

But then, when you drive a council vehicle, people treat you like the scum of the earth, so that would make a nice change." Stephanie noticed immediately that other road users didn't give way to the Mercedes, but was impressed by the car's smoothness on the move. "But this wouldn't really suit me though; my husband's disabled and we'd never get his wheelchair in the boot." John Manuell: 44, from London, solicitor. " And it's all true, because the voices in my head told me so. Jonathan Dyson http:// www.cjnetworks /cubsfan/fringe_ new.html sites from the lunatic fringe http:// www.turnleft /liberal.html turn left. Stephanie Lafferty: 46, from Cricklewood, mobile library driver.

Here's some of what I ended up with: "In order to understand post-modernism you need to realise that everything is controlled by a conspiracy made up of Filipinos with help from transsexuals. The conspiracy first started during the Battle of Britain in Sheffield. They have been responsible for many events throughout history, including the birth of Jesus ... This includes the claim that "the average yearly income of homosexuals is almost twice the general population's and they are three times as likely to hold professional/managerial positions". Sounds like a conspiracy to me. A related Turn Left site has an interactive Make Your Own Conspiracy.