Mercedes-Benz Coupes Lined Up | A Curvy Comparison
Unity in a car manufacturer's line-up never goes uncriticized
Mercedes-Benz has dominated a lot of markets in the past decades and to keep doing so the brand needs to constantly innovate. One of the current innovations comes down to unifying their line up, both in terms of naming strategy and in design. And that last one is what this article is partly about: the all too common complaint that the current Mercedes-Benz coupes look too alike.
Back in 2013 the Germans launched the S-Class Coupe, no more naming it the CL while at it. The world accepted this indisputable logic and moved on. Until 2014 that is, as the internet went into a meltdown when similarly shaped C-Class Coupe was unveiled. And even worse; the E-Class coupe was unveiled last year! The similarities caused havoc on brains throughout the world as individuals tried to regain control of their brains by posting their frustrations on forums. Statements on the great web like "how am I supposed to live with myself now that they all look like one another" and "my brain can't handle this" being proof of this struggle. No one should suffer like that. And thus we did what we had to do, we lined the Mercedes-Benz coupes up to objectify it.
Even in the metal the cars look a lot like one another, but not as bad as the press images or your memory would suggest. Size is a massive player in that distinction as the C250 and S500 are about 350 millimeters apart in terms of overall length, and in width there's not that much of a difference. The E-Class falling gently in between those, of course. All parts on these cars seem to evolve as you move up in the line-up. Or in size. Lights elongate, doors stretch and lines grow endless.
The cars follow the brand's classic line-up-logic of "upwards is more." Swap between the cars consecutively and each step up is literally another step up in everything. From handling to the amount of options, it's anything you can think of. With the cars lined up, only time is really getting in the way. As the E400 was the latest model released by the brand, it was the most refined in terms of interior. Good thing the S-Class Coupe facelift won't take that long, it needs to be on top again. As king of the hill, a curvy hill.
