Million-Mile Mercedes

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On display at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, MI stood a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE Sedan. Amidst the gleaming new models and flashing lights, it may have been easy for visitors to overlook.

The story behind the car, however, is nothing short of remarkable.

Recently acquired for the Mercedes-Benz Museum Collection in Stuttgart, Germany, the sedan - owned by George and Luzstella Koschel of Orange County, CA - was purchased new more than 35 years ago. Since the first turn of the ignition, it's taken them 1,019,000 miles.

"We believe the Koschels and their car personify customer satisfaction and vehicle quality, which are fundamental values and high priority goals for Mercedes-Benz," said Paul Halata, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA.

Mercedes-Benz USA learned about the Koschels and their 280SE while contacting owners for its early-2004 advertising campaign called "Faithful."

The Koschels picked up their car in Germany as a European Delivery vehicle. Although the car holds more than a million miles of memories for the couple, they're "considering" a 2005 CLK320 Cabriolet as a replacement.

Note: The picture above is not the real car from this article.