Safety engineering and the 'finest sedan in the world' reputation

Owners frame the W116 as a landmark of automotive safety and engineering four-wheel discs, crumple zones, and a structural cell that occupants credit with saving lives in real crashes. The era's press verdict is repeatedly invoked: Road & Track's July 1973 declaration that the 450SE(L) was the finest sedan in the world, priced against a Rolls-Royce but seen as better engineered.