- CHRIS DOANE AUTOMOTIVE AND THE MANUFACTURER
What It Is: The next generation CL-class, although it will revert to S-class coupe nomenclature to more closely align with Mercedes&rsquo, flagship sedan. The name change makes it the first two-door S since the W140 generation of the 1990s. The outgoing CL represented the personal luxury coupe cranked up to 15, and you can expect that to hold true with this one. Yards of cowhide and the finest timbers will be stuffed into freshly sculpted sheetmetal.
Why It Matters: It&rsquo,s likely that this car is as relevant to you as a doctoral thesis on the reproduction habits of rhinoceros beetles: The S coupe is for the one-tenth-of-one-percenters. As the impractical version of Mercedes&rsquo, flagship, it&rsquo,s a highly ostentatious way to show that you&rsquo,re so rich you don&rsquo,t have time for dumb stuff like families. (Either that, or your scions have already been given VP positions in the family business.) The S coupe also is an important image-builder for Mercedes, and it occupies a rare&mdash,and no doubt highly profitable&mdash,space with very few competitors.
Platform: The S-class coupe naturally will share its rear-wheel-drive architecture with the next-generation S-class sedan. which likely means plenty of aluminum to save weight as well as optional all-wheel drive. The current CL550 is available here only with 4MATIC all-wheel drive, and that might hold true for the new-gen base model, at least in America. Mercedes&rsquo, latest safety and telematics equipment will be aboard, too, and all lighting will be handled by LEDs. There also will be an S-class convertible variant that will share the coupe&rsquo,s mechanicals and styling.
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