2012 Mercedes-Benz CL550

The name Mercedes-Benz alone congers up images of luxury, innovative styling and performance benchmarks, Mercedes Benz motor cars have been held in high esteem for over a century. The 2012 CL550 continues this proud legacy by creating a truly innovative sports coupe that offers seating for four without sacrificing the sports cars performance and styling.

The trend in automotive design recently can only be described as boundary pushing. Altering customer perceptions by stretching the limits of class and capabilities to create a host of new vehicles such as crossover’s, hybrids and the like that populate the roadways. The Mercedes Benz team used this philosophy to create a two-seater sports car with its roots in the classic 450 that graced the world’s roadways, but now this coupe can comfortably seat four adults.

That’s correct, this impressive vehicle’s innovative design allows for four adults to travel comfortably; however, getting back there is another story – as my 6”5” son will attest to – because it involved an integrated ballet of moving parts and contorting bodies, but rest assured, once seated you are engulfed in comfort with amazingly ... leg room.

Up front the cabin contains the rich refinements you’d expect, but its overall appearance is somehow enhanced by the integration of the vehicle’s “bells and whistles”. Mercedes has done an amazing job of taking away the jumble of buttons, knobs and dials that are usually seen on the console and replaced them with beautiful simplicity. Less is more.

This roster of convenience features include: climate control, a big screen navigation system that can be unduly complicated the first few times, infotainment and audio from iPhones. BlueTooth, CDs and HD radio emanates from an impressive Harman/Kardon Logic 7 system. The 14-way power seats for driver and front seat passenger complete with both heat and ventilation options. The gray wood trim on the dash and doors, while not the matt finish I prefer is not kitchen table shiny. And isn’t that nice.

Under the hood the 550’s engine looks like a piece of industrial art and its specs are equally impressive- 429 horsepower with 516 foot-pounds of torque which can produce a 4.

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