Launch drive: Mercedes-Benz CL If ever personal aspiration were to manifest, perhaps the Mercedes Benz CL class would qualify as the result. Now in its twelfth year, the model range has come to represent the discerning choice of many buyers thanks to its near perfect balance of performance, luxury and style. Now, for 2011, Mercedes Benz have facelifted the CL, but far more importantly chosen it to debut some radical new and improved engine developments as well as integrated technology components they have been brewing in the AMG and BlueEFFICIENCY labs. Appropriately just days short of Daimler’s 125th anniversary of filing the automobile patent, Mercedes-Benz SA shared with us the fruits of their latest labour.
The new CL-Class range does not look incredibly different from its predecessor, which is not a bad thing at all. Mercedes’ new design theme has already adopted a radically changed, more aggressive and athletic look, which still looks fresh in its current guise. The CL’s shape especially manages to capture the essence of what a coupe should be – long, sleek, classy and bulging with intent in the right places. To this end, Mercedes-Benz insists that the CL is not merely a sedan with two doors lopped off; it is a car built for an entirely different driver and purpose. On the outside, the 2011 CL sports some redesigned headlamp clusters, LED running lights in the front grille, new bumper covers and modernised taillights. Depending on your chosen CL flavour, the alloy wheels, chrome trim and badging adornments are also revised and present. All variants share the same body panels and all of them,