The lavish diesel estate is the Concorde of the 2020s

Mercedes' E450d feels like a high-water mark for long-distance escapadesIs strident, pragmatic, long-distance motoring now enjoying its Concorde moment? Is it all downhill from here? Having just returned from the Alps in something a bit special, I fear it might well be.
I’ve loved big, car-based escapades ever since thrashing a mate’s Peugeot 206 down to Arezzo as a 17-year-old. It croaked on arrival (head gasket!) and we spent a king’s ransom in roaming charges chatting to the