The search function needs to support conditional logic or chained selects. Search by Manufacturer -> Model -> Package.... or... Country-> State/Province.

+1 for this, although for my own user base, I would want to limit the entries available (e.g. created by my user group / organisation) before I let the users sort and filter the sub-set of entries available to them.

In other words, two levels of filter would be needed - one set by the administrator when creating the view and one for the users who can manipulate the entries that they are allowed to see.