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Mercedes S-Class Coupe Concept - Things Are Looking Up

Topics:  Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Mercedes S-Class Coupe Concept - Things Are Looking Up

Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
September 15, 2013

The car in the image suggests the future ‘look’ for Mercedes cars. It was shown as a concept at Frankfurt but a production version is expected to go on sale late next year in Europe and a tad later in the USA. Mercedes makes, as we know, some great cars and yet there has been a bit of an image problem which, in my view, hasn’t been completely resolved by the current model line-up.

Gone are the days when this brand was felt to be for well-to-do old blokes but for a while it was touch and go. They’ve obviously recovered from that and yet I still can’t love the general styling. All that changes if this picture is to be believed. The styling is more dramatic and actually has curves. This S-Class Coupe is expected to replace the CL coupe whilst still retaining the respected S badge.

Power comes from a 4.7L V8 bi-turbo that grunts out a respectable 449hp and the car features Mercedes' Intelligent Drive whilst weight is lost thanks to aluminium doors. The concept has a collection of safety functions that, among other things, allows the coupe to detect objects 160 feet in front of the vehicle and adjusts the stiffness of the suspension as the vehicle is in motion.

The styling of the new models represent "a shift in paradigm," a spokesman said in an interview at the show. "We radically changed the design language to make it super clean and pure in line with our philosophy, which we call 'sensual purity.'" Stop it with the overblown car language already! All the car makers do this. Speak like normal people! Mercedes have come up with a much better design and it looks great. Let us hope that the car lives up to the image.

From the outside the ‘squashed’ look belies the space inside and there is no sense of the roof pressing down on you. Rear seat occupant space isn’t vast but is acceptable. Out on the road I warmed very quickly to the Evoque. I found it a pleasure to drive and it could be hustled along without drama. The ride height and broad windscreen gave a clear view of the road ahead. In short, reader, I was convinced. Of all the cars I would love to own, this is honestly one of a short list I would choose for my daily driver. That’s how impressed I was. £42k or so should do it if you‘re offering.