You're shopping two completely different cars under one badge. The '58-'67 classics are wide, low, chrome-heavy icons that still command respect at every stoplight, owners restore them obsessively, parts flow freely, and the enthusiast worship is real. The modern front-drive versions (2000-2020) are roomy fleet sedans with a recurring transmission weakness, rental-grade interiors, and all the charisma of a municipal parking ticket. Police departments used them for detective work but found them wanting for patrol duty. If you're hunting a classic, you're buying American automotive royalty. If you're considering a used modern one, budget for a transmission rebuild and manage your expectations accordingly.
This is what happens when a luxury upstart stops apologizing and just builds a genuinely excellent sedan. The current G80 nails the fundamentals, a cabin that feels $20k richer than the sticker, a ride that dissolves highway miles, and styling confident enough that strangers assume you paid BMW money. The infotainment will test your patience with menus buried three layers deep and touch controls that occasionally ignore your finger, but that's the tax for entry. Depreciation is brutal if you're the first owner, glorious if you're the second: $82k lease returns selling for $33k with under 30k miles. Buy it if you want S-Class comfort without the S-Class payment. Skip it if the nearest Genesis dealer is two states away.