The 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, a Class of its Own.

The New 2011 Mercedes CL is once again a beautiful car, to me anyway.

At the top end of the Mercedes spectrum, you can expect a lot form this large two door coupe. The new CL looks top notch form what I can see, and also what I can see is some dislike among car fans.

I found out about the new CL while browsing Motor Trend, and since I am a fan of the car I looked into it. The article said it was a first drive, but I didn’t see any drive related topics. No steering feel, control, how fun it was, just and argument about whether or not the car should even exist.

This argument went into the niches of the car world, and who buys what. The main point of the argument was that the car has no direct competitors. Basically there would have to be either a two door A8 or BMW 7 series so that it could actually have some competition. I personally don’t see a problem with having such a niche car.

The most recent CL AMG that is actually available to the public (the 2011 isn't yet) is a power house with 604 hp, 738 lb feet of torque, and a 0-60 time of 4.2 seconds. This is simply giving the people what they want. Mercedes is a smart company, you can’t take that away from them. If this car wasn’t losing them money, then they would stop wasting their time on updating a new one every year.

In California, you don’t see a lot of these high end cars. But you don't see them in many other places either. Silicon Valley in California will have them because it’s a good car, and the name is Mercedes. Its unique looking and expensive and people like that combination a lot when the price gets high. The reason I feel that people buy this car is because it is like nothing else on the road except save for Bentley’s and Maserati’s.

So get off the cars ass and just accept it. There have actually been many engineering achievements from these high end cars that trickle down in to the lower level Mercedes. The article talks about the V8’s that were in the car and that are now in the new S63. Another reason is the high end tech, like electronic stability control which debuted in the S class in 1995 is now a government safety standard.

The niche car will always have its place in the auto world, even if it is for people who get a salary of 600,000 to a million a year. But we all need niches and this car fulfills its duty well as being a unique option for the well to do.