For such a tiny sub section of the automotive world, the four-seat, four-door V8 coupe has had quite the week. Porsche has unveiled its freshly updated Panamera, including the Nurburgring record-breaking Turbo S, only for Mercedes to then hint at a further improved AMG GT 4-door just the next day. It's crazy to think, really, that both have two-tonne cars capable of 7:30 around the Nordschleife, yet also the desire to make them even faster again. We await the next update with interest.
There's one thing, however, that none of these super coupe manufacturers - Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Audi - have yet been able to create. And that's a V8 flagship that doesn't suffer from fairly severe depreciations. Whether it's M, RS, AMG or Turbo badged, there's no escaping the drop for the first couple of owners. Still, their loss is the used market's gain, with plentiful examples to pick from a few years down the line at a fraction of the new price. With the niche having experienced its busiest week in a long time, there seemed no better time to plunder the classifieds for the best bargains around...
To drive I remember liking the BMW M6 Gran Coupe a little less than some of my colleagues. Inclement conditions did not help its cause at the time. You could've fried an egg on the stability control light. I drove the Panamera 4S Diesel not long afterwards (the short-lived 627lb ft V8 one) and found that much more conducive to the business of bruising the outside lane of a motorway.
But the Panamera did not (and does not) look like an M6 Gran Coupe. And the whole point of buying a four-door coupe is to look like a cross between an international jewel thief and a Stirling Prize-winner. The M6 does that and then some. The rear three-quarters is a triumph. And when you do get the wheel straight, you've got that turbocharged, Valvetronic 4.4-litre V8 to distract you from the real world. Yes, I remember it being a bit on the firm side (in Competition format, at any rate). But I also remember feeling like a million bucks. And that counts for a lot.
Especially when you no longer have to make a million bucks to access the feeling. That you can have one with middling miles for the same price as a high-spec Volkswagen Golf is one of those pleasing quirks of market depreciation. It also covers over the Gran Coupe's other shortcoming; the failure of its interior to feel appropriately opulent at its original starting price. At £30k, it's a palace. I'd prefer it in a darker colour. Other than that, it's timelessly good.
NC
Given Mercedes is credited with having founded this segment back in 2004 with the CLS, it made sense to stick with Stuttgart for this challenge. Because not only did Mercedes create the niche, they've done a very good job with it in the decade and a half since; the first CLS was great, and even today cars like the AMG GT 4-door and CLS53 hybrid show they have a knack with the four-door coupe.
At which point Nic will say something along the lines of there being no point in a coupe if it doesn't look good; which, it could be argued, the second gen CLS perhaps does not. And the M6 Gran Coupe, regardless of what else might be said, is a fine looking car. This CLS was always a bit gawky, an impression that passing years haven't helped.
But no bother, as the '63 has a very distinct advantage here over the M6: its engine. Because the BMW 4.4 is perfectly decent, but it's never going to be remembered as an M great: too tuneless, too industrial. The AMG's 5.5, on the other hand, while perhaps lacking the cult status of the 6.2 it replaced, is a wonderful V8: melodious, strong and responsive, even with two turbos.
This isn't just any old CLS63, either, but one equipped with an AMG Performance Pack, meaning extra boost and 557hp alongside a gigantic 590lb ft - more even than the BMW. Combine that with the AMG limited-slip diff (somehow also an option) and you have the makings of a first-class AMG scallywag. Yet also one that's also pretty demure by the standards of its maker, with 19-inch wheels standard here now the same size as available on an A-Class. And in 2020 you'd sure as heck notice an AMG Exterior Carbon Fibre Pack, but it's super subtle on the CLS. With just 39,000 miles, a full main dealer service history and tens of thousands wiped off the new price, I can't think of a better way to celebrate the four-door coupe genre. Even if Nic's BMW does look better...
MB
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