All Entries Tagged With: "Mercedes"
Second Generation Mercedes CLS Takes A Bow
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Daimler AG ::: 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class
SEVEN years after forging a new niche – the four door coupé (with careful emphasis on the accent aigu over the “e” in coupe) – the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class embarks upon its second generation which bows in Paris. Only this time the CLS will face plenty of competition; from the Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera to Audi A7 and BMW Gran Coupé. And despite the original CLS’ dowdy appearance that many misguided critics thought “sexy”, we should thank Mercedes for having the foresight to attempt to reintroduce sex into the sedan marketplace.
The first (C219) and likely the second generation CLS-Class coupés were/are based on the (W211 & W212) E-Class, only the new CLS is sculpted to appear even more provocative with “refined sportiness”, “athletic proportions”, and a “perceptible design idiom.” I’m not actually sure what that last bit meant but only know that Mercedes means business when they say it.
The original CLS-Class sold 170K units worldwide. With all-LED exterior lamps (71 bulbs in all) and more flame surfacing than a crême brulée shop (there’s that accent again!) we can expect similar enthusiasm particularly from the newly moneyed East.
As for skeptics, given that some of us thought the original CLS looked like it owed much to the late 90s Mercury Sable, the jury’s still out on the next generation.
DIY: Removing Door Panels E38 7er & W210 E-Class Illustrates Design Similarities
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Door Panel Removal Videos E38 7-Series & W210 E-Class
HOW a car is put together says a great deal about the caliber of the engineering and design teams at work behind all the marketing hype and brand imagery. Layout is, to be plain, where the rubber meets the road.
It’s intriguing then to remember that despite being distinct marques, Mercedes-Benz and BMW’s cars are rather similar. Besides sharing part suppliers, there’s Teutonic commonalities in how each company manufactures their autos.
Consider these two videos as cases in point. Both are illustrative DIY films on how to remove the interior door panels without resorting to crowbar and hacksaw. We see a helpful technician work off an E38 gen. BMW 7er’s door panel (and burn his finger in the process) and another tech do the same (albeit more orchestrated and professionally edited) for a Mercedes-Benz W210 gen. E-Class.
The two cars share surprisingly similar construction traits, though it’s clear that the E-Class represents the older school formula of leaving the bulk of the electronics on the console and not the door. Seems wise, in hindsight.
Have a look.
Spied on 95: Mercedes 300SL Gullwing
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img ADLX ::: Mercedes-Benz W198 Gullwing
WIKIPEDIA tells me (and it must be true, surely) that between 1955-1963, Mercedes-Benz produced 1,400 (W198 gen.) 300SL coupés otherwise known as the famous “Gullwings”.
Or infamous – if you were caught off guard by the playful rear swing axle only to catch the wrong corner, flip and then land on the roof such that the doors couldn’t open. But I digress – we’re talking automotive legend which invariably requires expert prowess when driven fast.
So, in so much that I wasn’t A) visiting the Mercedes Classic Center in Irvine but B) driving on a fairly tame strip of I-95 along the Connecticut coastline, the chances of spying a 300SL on the road (even if on flatbed) in strictly mathematical terms are about as likely as my winning the Powerball.
Well, my lucky numbers just may be in the next draw because yours did in fact spy this remarkable Gullwing specimen enroute from Massachusetts to who-knows-where but my-oh-my did this beauty shine.
Amazing how some (extraordinary) cars can do nothing at all to garner our lust except pose as immaculate rolling sculpture from atop a lofty perch (otherwise known as tow truck).
Beijing Motor Show: “Exclusively For China”
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img withdrawn Citroën advert via Jack Yan’s Blog ::: 2010 Beijing Motor Show
CAR companies are falling over themselves to cater exclusively to the Chinese consumer this year; 2010 being the first full year that the PRC counts as the world’s largest automotive market.
As an American consumer, I feel a little slighted. What have we been all these years, chopped liver?
Let’s leave the political, economic, and perhaps social ramifications of this attention shift aside, and also that little factor that we might all be at war over Taiwan, Near-East oil, or somebody’s loss of face inside 20 years, and consider that the US car market, perhaps still the world’s most lucrative in terms of real dollars and cents, has seldom in recent times been the platform for such grand débuts or special acknowledgments by foreign car makers.
Here’s an informal rundown of pre-Beijing Motor Show announcements:
- BMW announced a solely-for-China Long-Wheelbase 5-Series
- Mercedes said they’d début the CLS Shooting Brake Concept (at the New York Auto Show, their big announcement was the updated R-Class – joy!)
- Ferrari’s billing it’s new 599GTO as its “fastest road car ever”
- VW will show off its new flagship Phaeton
- Citroën announced the Metropolis concept, designed and built in China
- Maybach’s unveiling its fresh new face to its über-saloon at Beijing (again, why not NY?)
- Bentley’s press release read “EXCLUSIVELY FOR CHINA” as they announced the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed China (say that ten times fast in Mandarin) and the Continental GT Design Series China
And so on and so forth. Yes, China is presently the great new over-heated economic frontier.
That said, let’s not forget that India and Brazil are also emerging as meaty new markets, too. And neither of these countries’ governments force foreign car companies to embed with domestic car makers.
You know, once you share trade secrets with your corporate partner, when you’re no longer a collaborative force the other party tends to remember all your best plays.
Given that Chinese corporate culture is as transparent as dragon scales and that the government’s penchant for subversive market intervention is quite real (Google), there’s a distinctly awful possibility that the auto industry’s zealous forays into the Land of Mao could backfire horribly in years to come.
Ah, well. We live to learn don’t we?
Welcome to LA
IN Brazil, a sign that you’ve “made it” is a helicopter that flies you safely above the fray- to and from your gated villa. In Washington, it’s a fleet of Secret Service driven Chrysler 300s that shadow your government tagged Lincoln or Cadillac.
In Los Angeles County, where the lofty image is every bit as vital as the achievement, social status starts and ends with the car. To this end, there exist far more Bentleys in Beverly Hills than drivers with the requisite wealth to own them outright.
That said, it’s a reasonable wager that Marky Mark was good for his black on black Azure.
Angelinos know their cars better than anyone.
That brilliant red 190SL that if housed in Connecticut would rust, smell of must, and might start on a warm day is in SoCal maintained as a more perfect everyday driver than it was when Max Hoffman imported it all those years ago.
And to paint an unreasonably broad picture, the same goes for pretty much any car – from vintage 80s Honda Accord to 2010 Audi R8.
Such is the dry climate that everything metallic just lasts. And lasts.
Which explains your sighting of that odd 70s Ford that you swore the Dude drove in The Big Lebowski. As much as LA pays lip service to anyone whose fame is older than 15 minutes, the city’s highways are surprising showcases for cars that time would’ve forgotten anywhere else.
In this vein, LA makes for much more exciting car watching than, say, Miami. There might be higher concentrations of Italian exotica in SoBe, but Floridians are all about financing, leasing, or renting the latest and greatest. Angelinos pay as much respect to a mint 1988 560SEC as they do a new CL65 AMG.
But here’s the Catch 22.
There are in fact so many Audis, Astons, Bimmers, Bentleys, Caddys, Lexii, Jaguars, Mercedes, Porsches, Ferraris, and Maseratis that for all the portent of these fine autos being poster vehicles for their drivers’ implied status and importance, their impact registers as white noise in the cattle herd of plodding traffic that forever clogs the 405.
Where else could spying not one, but three Ferrari Californias be considered everyday but in the city that has its own dedicated Ferrari/Maserati Collision Center? There’s a reason that every auto mag has a presence here. And a reason why every major auto maker has a design studio here.
Such is SoCal’s love affair with the automobile.
Hooray for Hollywood. And LA’s auto aficionados.
Audi versus… A4 Advert Showcases Rivals
By Gunnar Heinrich :: YouTube
GOT to hand it to ‘em, Audi has some cheek.
Aside from Hyundai and GM which only use vague verbal or written references to their competition, Audi actually let us a visualize its marketplace rivals by showcasing their models stacked against the other guys.
In this particular advert, the Audi A4 squares off against the Lexus IS, Mercedes C-Class, and BMW 3-Series. Apparently, the A4 claims to be bigger and more fuel efficient than any of its contemporaries.
It doesn’t hurt that we can differentiate the two by noticing the Audi in diamond black and the rest trimmed in a grey-ish beige.
This spot reminds us of another rivalry that was recently exploited for one side’s publicity efforts…
Achtung! Mercedes Ready to Launch E-Class Cabrio
- Mercedes preps us for 2011 E-Class Cabriolet launch
- Softtop, not hardtop, more aggressively styled than milky CLK forebear
- E-Class cabrio’s power options on E350 and E550 (E500 in EU) potent but relatively mild
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Daimler, AG
BY every measure the 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class cabriolet stands as a more substantial 2+2 boulevardier than its predecessor, the silky soft CLK.
Mercedes traditionally positioned the E-Class (or CLK) convertibles for a more feminine buyer but this latest iteration seems to have struck a better balance. Unlike the original W124 E-Class but like its more immediate predecessors, the E-Class cabriolet will be based on C-Class underpinnings.
Ever since the time 60s, MB designers have taken the harder edges of an E-Class sedan and rounded them ever so slightly to appeal to our softer, inner hedonists. The point was to not worry about performance or the expectation thereof (the 90s E320 cabriolet was a casual performer at best) and to just sit back and enjoy the wind in your hair.
Or not. Mercedes like BMW and the rest have previously deployed rear seat wind-deflectors to help curb back draft; the sticking point being that you ceded use of the back seats.
In the 2011 E-Class cabrio, Mercedes looks to have mitigated this somewhat by taking notes from the Volkswagen EOS and implementing their own “AirCap system” – a 2.4 inch wind screen that pops up from the top of the windshield when the roof is lowered to reduce those ill winds that give ladies “convertible hair”.
In cooler months, Mercedes AirScarf system – first deployed on the SLK and then, messily, on the SL (think ET headrests) – which will pump warm air to the driver and front passengers necks.
Rear passengers get to freeze, sorry.
But back to what makes the 2011 cabrio a more distinctive ride than the 2010.
The amoeba headlamps and soft curves of the predecessor CLK model were pretty and pretty generic. That car’s best angle was from the rear 3/4 perspective, which also gave you the impression that what you’re looking at was most any Euro-designed droptop – Is it a Peugeot? Audi? Zil?
The latest model which will bow in Detroit next month keeps the angular facia and hood creases from the E-Class sedan and then carries all that pent-up surface tension rearward along the side panels. There’s even an S-Class-ish rear wheel-well arch that rises from the rockers flows up over the wheel and then shoots aft in a straightline to the rectangular tail lights.
The cabrio’s new essence is aggressive: for the softop appears to be in forward motion even when stationary. Speaking of aggressive, the engine options are actualy fairly mild in contrast to the super-tuned behemoth V8s and V12s that we’ve come to expect.
The E350 cab will feature a 3.5 liter V6 channeling a respectable 268 horsepower with 258 lb-ft of torque, while the E550 cab’s 5.5 liter V8 keeps the horses relatively reined in @ 382 hp and 391 lb-ft, respectively. If this were the year 2000, the V8’s figures would’ve represented serious, AMG grade power.
But in a twin-turbo, 600 horsepower world, we’ve become jaded. Which is how buyers of Benz’s latest cabrio are sure to feel.
What Makes a Jaguar, “A Jag-u-ar”?
- The essential elements of Jaguar design
- Ian Callum’s team should avoid Germanification
- Keep the sex please, Jaguar’s British
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Jaguar Cars
NO, seriously.
What makes a Jaguar a “Jag-wharr” “Jag-u-ar” or a “Shagwharr, baby, yeah!” ?
Coming down from the summer’s high of witnessing the troubled Brit car maker launch something – anything – that could be considered exciting, fresh, and new, yours is compelled to pick up a fresh blogger’s grenade, pull the pin and…
Can’t throw it. Won’t.
The world needs Jaguar now more than ever. We need a car company that promises to deliver what we’ll call the “everyday exotic”.
“Everyday” meaning a car that’s produced in some volume with a wide range of engine and trim options that inevitably includes a low-spec variant that has a euro-zone friendly diesel engine and an interior trimmed in velour.
By “exotic”, I refer to an automobile that makes your hand stand on end or at least prompts a second, lasting glance.
Neither BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus are in the business of building everday head-turners.
The latest generation 5er, E-Class, and GS and their higher and lower stablemates are quite doomed to automotive anonymity thanks in large part to their ubiquity and that they share the same design elements from like-minded studios.
Jaguar’s team, led by the talented Ian Callum, is badly tempted to follow this terribly efficient Teutonic trend. They’re prepared to sacrifice the marque’s quintessentially British heritage by playing ze Germans’ game; borrowing heavily from Audi’s middle-of-the-road German aesthetic while pitching an emphasis on technology.
Technology isn’t sexy. Sleek, lean, power and grace is. Which brings us nicely back to our nugget: what makes a Jaguar, a Jaguar?
It’s sex appeal, ladies and gentlemen.
Time’s up. Throw the grenade!
