The New CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake

[sithot]

I have to go with MB when it comes to wagons or anything like a wagon (i.e. Cayenne). This is car I could love.

Tom

[pu911rsr]

Tom,

I with ya, I've got a S6 avant as DD, wagons are great everyday vehicles, not many companies building them anymore.

Phil

[Mr9146]

M5 Wagon ... E55 Wagon ... S4 Avant (sorry, the 6 is too big for me, Phil) ... bug-eye WRX Wagon or WRX STi Wagon circa 2009-2011

All are very different but will find their way into my stable eventually.

[pu911rsr]

couple of kids a couple of dogs a few set of skis or mountain bikes it won't seem so big!
Phil

[John Z Goriup]

Tom,

As much as I love and have respected Mercedes-Benz automobiles for the last 40 years since I bought my first, a 280 SEL 6.3, I'm very concerned that in their desperation to regain the top spot in the luxury market ( now held by BMW using only unit volume of sales world-wide ) we will have to probably endure more and more of these mis-guided excesses (witness the McLaren SLR, the current generation SLS "Gullwing" and Roadster, the latest SL two-seaters and now this ) until they come to their senses and return to simply building the best cars on the planet.......... on all levels.

Didn't take long after I saw your photo of the wagon which they have chosen to euphemistically call a "Shooting Brake" to realize whose window silhouette they copied when they designed this latest abomination (please see attached Honda CRV side-view photo ) but at least one can see out of a CRV.

Calling a CLS which has been clumsily and hastily morphed into a wagon a shooting brake is only one of the many crimes M-B committed when they embarked on this particular disaster. Mercifully we will be spared having to see it on US roads, but I'll wager they are standing in line with bundles of petro-Dollars in hand in places like Qatar, Abu-Dhabi and Dubai. The Sultan of Brunei probably has already ordered one for each of his wives.

I note a real dichotomy in your post above and your past rants against the Panamera where you have repeatedly reminded us of just how much you hate it and just how very ugly you feel it is, and on the other hand you then claim you could actually love this ??.........but then, of course, de gustibus non est disputandum.

PS: If I were to buy a Shooting Brake, it would have to be the Bentley shown below - they had the good sense to preserve the proportions of the Continental GT Coupe and retain the two-seat configuration......certainly not as graceful and / or beautiful as the Continental, but isn't the basic concept of all "Shooting Brakes " well over the top in the first place.

[sithot]

John:

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...l=1#post581385

Good eye. All are copying each other now as there are no rules (that cannot be circumvented) when it comes to copying a car design.

MB have been doing the offbeat window treatment for a while. Buick has copied it straight into their Regal GS. The Bentley Continental GT (I'll take mine in Sequin, Wedgewood, Saphire or Windsor Blue, thank you very much). Subaru had the SVX in the 90's and Dean Jeffries, Gene Winfield, Bill Hines, George Barris weren't born yesterday.

There (really) is nothing new under the sun!

As for "excess" I'll take a C class AMG "Black Series" any day of the week and become the 1st member of the Tire Rack tire club 'cause the rears don't hold up real well.

[wagonboy]

(please see attached Honda CRV side-view photo ) but at least one can see out of a CRV.

I kind of liked the CRV but I'm with you on the Merc. Wagons should be more about utility than style or whatever that is which they are trying to convey. I don't get the CLS at all.

BTW CR-V Press photo: location - Burard street bridge in the background. Vancouver B.C.

[tomkirkcis]

If someone wants a great low cost wagon, consider one of the now discontinure Audi Allroads. I have owned a number of these and we still have two of them. They are A6 in size. These are twin turbo'd v6 that respond very well to chipping, making great, reliable power. You have quattro all wheel grip and adjustable ride height, and great build quality. Throw a bolstered driver seat from a wrecked S Audi and you have a safe, comfortable and fast family hauler sleeper without blowing the long hood dream fund.

Tom

[sithot]

That's the Aaron Winans-Mobile (of choice). His are older. (and I believe a shade more glitchy)

I really like all the Audi designs but our local dealer has never been one who could waive a flag regarding great service.
One of the SO's best friends ditched her Audi last year after "having about enough" from the service department.

Then she bought a BMW. Can't say the experience there has been much better but she does like the car.

The local MB dealer has me pretty well hooked. We went through a real mess about a year ago with our wagon.
It had an intermittent check engine light which was preceded by a shut down of a couple of cylinders (limp mode). You could cycle the key and the computer would clear and the thing might run
another week or more before it did it again.
I took it in and they "fixed" it but I was back 3 days later. This time it was on them. It took about 4 different trips before the problem finally went away.
During that time we were treated to the shotgun repair system meaning they replaced anything they thought could be causing the problem.
New computer, new fuel pump, mass airflow, plugs, wires, and crank position sensor plus stuff I can't remember off the cuff. No charge.

145,000 and still ticking like a Swiss Watch. We love the car. It's never gotten stuck in snow and everything still works.
I'd buy a used E320 or E350 in a NY Minute. 4Matic if you "drive in weather". It's pretty good in the rain too!

Do buy an extended warranty!!!

Tom

[fc356]

One of our DD is a Sequoia that we use for hauling our bikes, inside and safe from the elements. The bikes that we haul are typically worth more combined than the vehicle. The only issue is the MPG on long trips. It is a great SUV and we will keep it. I also use it occasionally to tow the 356 to events in the summer too distant to drive in the heat. When I sold my 95 M3 a few months ago I needed another DD. We looked at Cayennes, Touregs, Q7 etc but the bikes would not fit comfortably and with ease. Then I found a 04 E320 Wagon that was immaculate with 37k miles. Beautiful supple ride, understated, and hopefully mid 20's MPG. Best of all the price was 1/4 -1/3 of the other choices. Bingo. Bikes load easily, along with the rest of our gear and we are a few weeks away from a 6000 mile road trip out west to Oregon. I think we will enjoy it and hopefully it will be problem free.

Frank