All Entries Tagged With: "CL-Class"
In Praise of the C-Pillar
Bentley’s elegant hommage to a certain former stablemate at Crewe.
By Gunnar Heinrich
DEFINING what constitutes the C-Pillar (or C-Post) is simple: it’s the bit of metal (or other material) that supports the aft section of a car’s roof and rear windscreen. How automotive designers pen a C-Pillar on a given model will in turn determine much of the car’s structural purpose and overall character.
For this reason, the C-Pillar is something that immediately catches the eye.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom’s C-Pillars are more than two feet in width. Their thickness register to a Victorian method that carriages once employed to obscure the inward view of occupants. Needless to say, it works. It’s so effective, in fact, that mirrors are on the inside walls of the pillars are used to deflect the sense that you might otherwise be riding in a leather padded cell.
The iconic Ferrari Testarossa’s flying buttresses must have taken flight from any of Europe’s gothic cathedrals…
Or perhaps from Jaguar’s XJS coupe. The 2+2 GT was a cat whose sly shape owed much to the two flamboyant arcs that extended from roof to cat eared taillamps.
Benz’s “Pagoda” SL (W113) seems to be hiding the fact that it even has a roof. The last pillar is relatively wide at the roofline then narrows to an improbably thin width where it meets the trunk. “Wispy” seems to be the moment’s descriptor.
The 2010 Mercedes-Benz (C216) CL-Class benefits from a series of complimenting arcs. That the rear windscreen mimics the car’s semi-circular profile glass is a nice visual coup.
The 90′s Cadillac Eldorado or ETC (WTF?) features a retro “rocket fin” that partly cuts through a right triangle. It looks sharp until we consider the uninspired rectangular rear window.
Arguably the most famous and copied series of C-Pillars; here we find BMW’s hoffmeister kink as displayed on the newest 7er. The F01 generation takes the hallmark concept further with a raised edge to the surrounding sheetmetal.
The slightly skewed block that separated the miniscule cabin from the acres of trunk on the Continental is a study in design simplicity.
Bruno Sacco’s proportionally strong yet fluid sheetmetal creates the perfect bow from the stately roofline to the boot of the W126 generation Mercedes-Benz S-Class. This most pleasing shape is lined by chrome and echoed by a lip of plastic window trim in the rear window. Genius.
Completing The 560 Range: Benz’s Magnificent 560SEC
By Christopher P. Davis
IN a perfect world, the elves from the Black Forest pictured a three-car garage.
In it sat a 560SEL – which would propel you to your daily slayings in the corporate world – to the right, a 560SL – for open-top boulevard cruising and of course the occasional weekend picnic – and, finally, the 560SEC.
Sporty yet refined. Classic yet modern. Sadly, one of Benz’s best is now just some forgotten coupe. Perfect for a night at the opera, and maybe a Friday car, like the current CL-Class, the SEC was an expensive, low volume choice. So much so, the “E” is SEC should have stood for “exclusive.”
Arriving in an S-Class coupe, you made a statement, frankly, that money was no object and that practicality was for “the little people.” Sure, for a little less money (the coupe’s MSRP was north of $70,000) you could have a 560SEL and two more doors, but who bothered to count? You had accountants for that.
Confronted by a 560SEC, there’s little room to doubt that it is a true Mercedes-Benz. The Tri-Star logo, representing land, air, and sea is prominently featured, much in the way it currently is on the CL and on the new C-Class Sport.
The star has an angular front, which through former Benz Design Chief Bruno Sacco’s genius avoids being overtly “sporty” or ostentatious. Simply told, it’s the embodiment of the balanced design ethic that was part of every model Mercedes produced in the 80s.
On the headlamps rest diminutive wiper blades, a feature that I always thought to be rather cool and somewhat practical, but overall, just plain cool. On top of the hood where a star ornament would usually stand, is a larger blue-white star and laurel roundel that’s featured on nearly every Mercedes two-door.
From the side, your eye sweeps across the car, as the design is completely fluid, there is no rough spot, just one beautiful automobile. The 560 SEC is a pillarless coupe, a fact that greatly enhances that sweep.
In a December 2006 edition of British Mercedes-Benz magazine Mercedes Enthusiast, Bruno Sacco was reported to have recently acquired, as the writer put it, “(A) low mileage 560SEC in Anthracite with black leather and burr walnut. ‘It is now almost perfect,’ he murmured, eyes twinkling.”
From the rear, the 560SEC is very similar to any other W126. The only difference between the rear of sedan is that the coupe sports a slightly larger rear windscreen.
On the interior, a 560SEC has all the sharp fit and finish of its four door sibling.
One novel feature is a seat belt presenter – a think black plastic arm that extends the belt out for you from a chrome ringed cavity beneath the rear window sill. Although novel in the 80s, it’s a feature that time has shown to be just a tad temperamental.
Between the back seats of the SEC was a beautiful burled wood retractable console. Similar to that found on current CL-Class models, although on the 560SEC it is much larger; the amount of burled wood is stunning!
The 560SEC is a big car by any measure. It weighs in at over 3960 pounds and covers just over 199.2 inches of asphalt stem to stern.
In today’s world of Prius’ (or is it Prii?) the 560SEC is a throwback to a bygone era – the decadence of the 80’s.
Supreme excess.
Owning one today is as much a statement as it was then. It denotes success, style, intelligence, and class. It’s a designer tank, engineered unlike any other car in the world and styled to please even the most fashion conscious.
“Luxury cars” abound, but 560SECs do not – with only 28,929 of these beauties made. What’s more, a well cared-for example will mechanically stand the test of time at least as well as its classic good looks.
The 560SEC is the perfect coupe to complete anyone’s garage.
[Images: 1986 Brochure by Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.]
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*Note* An avid reader since early 2007, Mr. Davis is a new contributor to Automobiles De Luxe.
