Palmball
MB Enthusiast
After my visit to the Geneva show on Friday, I've come to the conclusion that the latest range of MB's are one of the best range of cars available on the market today (as if you all needed telling that 
). BMW's range was also very good in the all-rounder stakes but their new 1M was a disappointment (too similar to a 135i for my liking) and the new 6-series not as nice as I thought it would be.
The new cars on show at this years show that interested me were the new SLK, new C-Class Coupe, new C63 and CLS63 AMG's, facelift C-Class and....well, that's what I focussed on anyway!
Firstly, a quick shot from across a couple of halls where you can see Mercedes' very large stand from a long way away (I believe it was the largest single stand).
Heres a close up of the stand where you can see a dedicated AMG section at the rear left which was covered and clearly separate from the normal range (something that BMW M could learn a thing or two about - their M3 was just in amongst everything else!). You can't see a lot of cars on this shot as, to be honest, most were behind me (which gives you an idea of scale) and those in front were just surround by people (there's far too many people at these European shows, even on weekdays).
New SLK
This is a LOT nicer in real life than pictures - it's a nice, sharp looking little roadster. The interior is very SLS-like and the whole design of the thing means it's easily the prettiest when compared with a Z4 or Boxster. The red they chose for the show car was also very sharp - much nicer than Fire Opal (that's what the red was on the old one IIRC?).
The new vario-roof thing where it can either be transparent or opaque is very cool and a sure selling point of this car over it's competitors.
New C-Class Coupe
To be honest, I was a little disappointed with this one. No frameless doors and still a bit upright for a coupe - it was just a bit bland to be honest (although I might have had a different opinion had it not been in silver which is not my favourite colour!).
I just think the 4-door shape suits the C-Class details better but I'm sure it'll look great with some AMG add-ons or in C63 guise and the interior is as per the new C-Class...very nice (see my bit on the C63 below).
New CLS63 AMG
OMG. OMG. OMG...this really was stunning in every way. This is my absolute favourite 'real-world' car right now
It looks sensational, again much nicer in real life than pictures (mainly because you don't see the awkward rear flanks all the time!). It looks sleek, and hard as nails at the same time.
Then you move to the interior which is stunning with it's leather clad swooping design and the most comfy, support seats in the world (the same as the E63's dynamic seats but set even lower so you feel really cocooned). The driving position is perfect and even the back seas are a special place to sit with the individual seats and luxurious trimming around you.
This car is so impressive that I'm going to find out just how unaffordable it is in the hope that, like with my Porsche, a residual miracle will make it attainable...unlikely as it's some £20k too expensive!
For me, this beat even the C63 as a car to have by some margin.
To be continued....
). BMW's range was also very good in the all-rounder stakes but their new 1M was a disappointment (too similar to a 135i for my liking) and the new 6-series not as nice as I thought it would be.The new cars on show at this years show that interested me were the new SLK, new C-Class Coupe, new C63 and CLS63 AMG's, facelift C-Class and....well, that's what I focussed on anyway!
Firstly, a quick shot from across a couple of halls where you can see Mercedes' very large stand from a long way away (I believe it was the largest single stand).
Heres a close up of the stand where you can see a dedicated AMG section at the rear left which was covered and clearly separate from the normal range (something that BMW M could learn a thing or two about - their M3 was just in amongst everything else!). You can't see a lot of cars on this shot as, to be honest, most were behind me (which gives you an idea of scale) and those in front were just surround by people (there's far too many people at these European shows, even on weekdays).
New SLK
This is a LOT nicer in real life than pictures - it's a nice, sharp looking little roadster. The interior is very SLS-like and the whole design of the thing means it's easily the prettiest when compared with a Z4 or Boxster. The red they chose for the show car was also very sharp - much nicer than Fire Opal (that's what the red was on the old one IIRC?).
The new vario-roof thing where it can either be transparent or opaque is very cool and a sure selling point of this car over it's competitors.
New C-Class Coupe
To be honest, I was a little disappointed with this one. No frameless doors and still a bit upright for a coupe - it was just a bit bland to be honest (although I might have had a different opinion had it not been in silver which is not my favourite colour!).
I just think the 4-door shape suits the C-Class details better but I'm sure it'll look great with some AMG add-ons or in C63 guise and the interior is as per the new C-Class...very nice (see my bit on the C63 below).
New CLS63 AMG
OMG. OMG. OMG...this really was stunning in every way. This is my absolute favourite 'real-world' car right now
It looks sensational, again much nicer in real life than pictures (mainly because you don't see the awkward rear flanks all the time!). It looks sleek, and hard as nails at the same time.
Then you move to the interior which is stunning with it's leather clad swooping design and the most comfy, support seats in the world (the same as the E63's dynamic seats but set even lower so you feel really cocooned). The driving position is perfect and even the back seas are a special place to sit with the individual seats and luxurious trimming around you.
This car is so impressive that I'm going to find out just how unaffordable it is in the hope that, like with my Porsche, a residual miracle will make it attainable...unlikely as it's some £20k too expensive!
For me, this beat even the C63 as a car to have by some margin.
To be continued....
To the regular eye, the new C63 may look a lot like the current one but to me, as someone who knew my C63 inside out, there are so many changes that I was wetting myself over (the other half just disappeared at this point 
).
Palmball
