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Looking back on our favorite cars of Mad Men

The second half of the seventh and final season of Mad Men debuted this week, set to cap a run of public and critical acclaim. A decade's worth of interesting cars also made for good television, if you were paying attention. Vehicles didn't often steal the spotlight from Don, Betty, Roger, Joan and the gang, but they added meaningfully to the tone and beauty of the series. We sorted through the wheeled extras from Mad Men's archives, and choose some of our favorites to highlight. The list consists of cars that had at least a small impact on the plot of an episode, though certainly there are worthy gems hiding in just about every street and driving scene. Check out our subjective top five, and then let us know which of the Mad Men cars would be on your list. 1962 Cadillac Coupe DeVille – Season 2 Don Draper's Cadillac Coupe DeVille, all 500 feet of it, shows up in a few seasons of the show, but it's the first appearance that sets the tone. A Cadillac salesman, cut from the same cloth as Draper, asks what Don drives right now. "A Dodge," Don admits. "Those are wonderful if you want to get somewhere," allows the salesman, "this is for when you've already arrived." For a man on the move up corporate and social ladders that's a powerful message, and a pitch-perfect car. 1961 Lincoln Continental – Season 3 The most stylish Lincoln Continental ever is perfect set dressing for the mod show, of course. Though it's interesting that the car isn't cast as dapper Draper's ride, but rather his father-in-law's. Grandpa Gene does what all great grandfathers are bound to: lets his granddaughter Sally drive the big Lincoln while he works the pedals. Generational bond secured, in fine fashion. When you go back through the first three seasons of the show, you'll notice that Continentals show up more than once, too. There's nothing quite like them to evoke the best of the early '60s. 1963 John Deere 110 – Season 3 The only non-standard passenger vehicle on the list, no self-respecting gearhead/Mad Men fan should quibble with the inclusion of the John Deere 110 riding mower. For starters, the Deere is lovely to look at; a miniature version of the American Heartland icon in its green and yellow duds. The 110 appears as if milled from a solid block of steel, just the opposite of today's sleek, plasticky lawn minders (we're scouring Craigslist for one to bring home). The John Deere also has dear ramifications to the plot, too.

CA Chevy dealer allegedly adds $50K 'market value adjustment' to 2015 Z06

It seems to happen with every eagerly anticipated new car – dealerships, recognizing that crushing demand far outstrips the initial limited supply of a new model, inflate the price via a so-called "market value adjustment." We've seen it in the past with a number of new models, and now it's happening again with one of the Detroit 3's hottest vehicles. A dealership in Roseville, CA, outside of Sacramento, has allegedly attached a staggering $49,995 market value adjustment to a 2015 Corvette Z06. We say allegedly because, despite the evidence uncovered by BoostAddict, John L. Sullivan Chevy's online inventory listing doesn't display the price premium of the Z06 in question, a (normally) $93,965 model with the top-end 3LZ trim. It's unclear if either of the dealer's other Z06s, both 3LZs, one of which is in transit, will receive similar price adjustments. Now, legally, Sullivan Chevy isn't doing anything wrong here. Dealerships are under no obligation to observe a manufacturer's suggested retail price, a point General Motors' spokesperson Ryndee Carney pointed out to Autoblog via email. "For the Corvette Z06, Chevrolet has established a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price we feel is right for the market. Actual transaction prices, however, are the province of the dealer," Carney said, adding that a dealer zone manager will be discussing the price hike with the dealership. While we also reached out to the dealership over both the market value adjustment and the price of the Z06 as it appears on the company's website, we've yet to hear back as of this writing. Should they reply to our inquiries, we'll be sure to update you. Until then, we'd like to hear what you think about this case. Is Sullivan Chevy simply pricing the cars as high as it thinks the market can bear, or is this a cash grab for an hotly anticipated product? Have your say in Comments.

BMW, Hyundai score big in JD Power's first Tech Experience Index

While automakers are quick to brag about winning a JD Power Initial Quality Study award, the reality, as we've pointed out before, is that these ratings are somewhat misleading, since IQS doesn't necessarily distinguish genuine quality issues. JD Power's new Tech Experience Index aims to solve that problem. The new metric takes the same 90-day approach as IQS but focuses exclusively on technology – collision protection, comfort and convenience, driving assistance, entertainment and connectivity, navigation, and smartphone mirroring. It splits the industry up into just seven segments, based loosely on size, which is why the Chevrolet Camaro is in the same division (mid-size) as Kia Sorento and the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class is in the same segment as the Hyundai Genesis (mid-size premium). It makes for some screwy bedfellows, to be sure. Still, splitting tech experience away from initial quality should allow customers to make more informed and intelligent decisions when buying new vehicles. In the inaugural study, respondents listed BMW and Hyundai as the big winners, with two segment awards – the 2 Series for small premium and the 4 Series for compact premium, and the Genesis for mid-size premium and Tucson for small segment. The Chevrolet Camaro (midsize), Kia Forte (compact), and Nissan Maxima (large) scored individual wins. Ford also had a surprising hit with the Lincoln MKC, which ranked third in the compact premium segment behind the 4 Series and Lexus IS. This is a coup for the Blue Oval, whose woeful MyFord Touch systems made the brand a victim of the IQS' flaws in the early 2010s. But Ford and other automakers might not want to celebrate just yet. According to JD Power, there's still a lot of room for improvement – navigation systems were the lowest-rated piece of tech in the study. Instead, customers repeatedly saluted collision-avoidance and safety systems, giving the category the best marks of the study and listing blind-spot monitoring and backup cameras as two must-have features – 96 percent of respondents said they wanted those two systems in their next vehicle. But this isn't really a surprise. Implementation of safety systems from brand to brand is similar, and they don't require any input from users, unlike navigation and infotainment systems which are frustratingly deep.