Wednesday 5th March 2014
Mercedes: Geneva 2014
S-Class Coupe heads up Mercedes range and the Geneva display
Bentley might be launching a new, even faster version of its Continental GT Speed, as well as updating the rest of the Continental range
at Geneva, while Aston is here in Switzerland showcasing a brace of monochrome DB9s. But it's the production version of the
Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe that's arguably stolen the big GT show.
A worthy flagship and about as big as one
It's a monster at five metres long, but far from looking like a big, bloated S-Class with two fewer doors, the coop's lines are elegant, shaking off its significant bulk. The Germans are making things easy for us, too: there's only one engine on offer for now, the 455hp 4.7-litre twin-turbo V8 from the S-Class saloon, meaning the S500 Coupe is what we'll have to settle for. A seven-speed auto 'box and Merc's Magic Body Control means this will be a wafter, no doubt. Even then, it should have the Brits worried. The inevitable S63 and S65 AMG version have the potential to be total tyre melters.
If you could even call this a 'cooking car', it'll still be swift enough - 4.8 seconds to 62mph seems a good bet. What we do like about the big two-door Mercedes is just how slick it feels in every respect. From the dazzling quality of the paint finish (show lights highlight even the finest of orange peel paint jobs) to the interior finish - and people say German cars are short on emotion?
Other than the S-Class Coupe, there's a raft of small petrol- and diesel-engined models, as well as some hotter AMG stuff, including the bonkers S65 AMG L. 5.2 metres and 630hp of V12 biturbo fury teamed with Rolls-Royce-like refinement. It doesn't get much cooler, does it?
