Hot! Mercedes-Benz, What's Next?

[martinbo]

martinbo is currently in New York wishing that he had Wagener's Euro salary...

Damn the Rand is worth less than dog poo over here. Lots of S-Classes in Manhattan and it looks even more magnificent in this setting.

 

[Wolfgang]

^ Great. Maybe you can take some pics?

SAV PR

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Auto & Design, Spring 1999

Check out how the designers dressed back then compared to now! lol

It's amazing how much fresh wind Gorden Wagener has brought to the Mercedes-Benz brand. Press and public dismissively writing off MB in the race for the top of the premium segment. Since he took helm, things have turned around so breathtakingly well, the launch of the W222 S-Class was the real turning point.

One MB top manager told me "the currently single most valuable person we have in the whole company is Gorden Wagener". Even in Munich and Ingolstadt, executives are admitting that Mercedes-Benz is currently having a winning streak (behind closed doors even admitting them being behind on design and innovation). I can't wait to see the new E-Class, SL, SLK etc. carry the Wagener design signature!

Second most important...after Mr. Z

Wagoner and his team have overseen an amazing design turn around at MB. I hope he hangs around for a while and we see a real consistency return to the brand. Especially after the mess Pfeiffer made in the mid to late 2000's. It must have been tough for Wagoner to watch what was going on.

 

[MercFan]

I wonder who was the designer of 203,211,220 etc. time. I think it was the best time for Mercedes exterior design. All cars were beautiful. Every car had such a good look.

Nowadays we have ugly A, CLA, SL, SLK, ML, not so good as it used to be GL, C-class with rather poor proportions, CLS is not near as elegant as the 1 gen CLS. Nonetheless the S-class is awesome! B-class is nice. The S-class coupe doesn't look big and luxurious enough, but such an elegant car.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

I wonder who was the designer of 203,211,220 etc. time. I think it was the best time for Mercedes exterior design. All cars were beautiful. Every car had such a good look.

Nowadays we have ugly A, CLA, SL, SLK, ML, not so good as it used to be GL, C-class with rather poor proportions, CLS is not near as elegant as the 1 gen CLS. Nonetheless the S-class is awesome! B-class is nice. The S-class coupe doesn't look big and luxurious enough, but such an elegant car.

I can't believe you think the C-class has poor proportions. The C-class's proportions are near bang on perfect for a sports executive.

 

[ThroughandThrough]

I wonder who was the designer of 203,211,220 etc. time. I think it was the best time for Mercedes exterior design. All cars were beautiful. Every car had such a good look.

Nowadays we have ugly A, CLA, SL, SLK, ML, not so good as it used to be GL, C-class with rather poor proportions, CLS is not near as elegant as the 1 gen CLS. Nonetheless the S-class is awesome! B-class is nice. The S-class coupe doesn't look big and luxurious enough, but such an elegant car.

I believe you chose the wrong username.

 

[Monster]

I believe you chose the wrong username.

Common guys give him a break.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

I'm sure it's just in jest Derek.

 

[Monster]

I'm sure it's just in jest Derek.

Yeah I know, btw congrats on the new C-class!

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Yeah I know, btw congrats on the new C-class!

Cheers! Picking it up next week Tuesday.

 

[sako97]

That's true, they cut some corners, perhaps because they didn't have much time. The project started in the spring of 1998 and was only finished on December 29, three days before it was shown in Detroit. Here's a picture of the design team. From all the proposals two were selected for the final prototype, the one from Steffen Köhl and the one from Gorden Wagener.

Auto & Design, Spring 1999

Very off topic, but development pics from 2001 & 2002:

The very first "in the wild" pic from summer '03:

I'd still love to own a SLR. It may have had its short comings, but its excellent as a fast, stylish, extremely safe, semi-practical/livable GT. They are still popular in the Middle East, London & the Riviera.

 

[DJRaze99]

I love him, unique design ..

 

[lukeswiss]

I only ever drove one once, I was 22 at the time and crapping myself in rush hour traffic.... Anyone else actually taken one for a proper spin ?

 

[Merc1]

C Coupe on deck! S Cabrio and C63 AMG Coupe coming up next! Any word on a concept for Frankfurt?

M

 

[Rolf]

The SLR was and still is one lovely looking machine, just love the details and aggressive front. Only
Weakness I can think of is the interior as it looks too much like other cheaper Merc models. But I
Would love to drive one!

 

[Yaz]

It might look cheap, but once you get in, you'd be surprised.
Plus, this is the era where MB had cheap interior.

 

[Merc1]

I keep forgetting we have a hotter version of the AMG GT on the way also. I'm just curious to know what it will be called because GT3 is out. I just can't imagine a Benz showroom where you have a AMG GT, S63 AMG Cabriolet, S600 Maybach, C63 AMG Coupe, C450 Cabriolet, C63 Cabriolet, G65 AMG and the W213 E-Class all sitting around at once. That will be the case by summer next year. Amazing. Lets forget the fact that the SL, SLK/SL, GL/GLS and the CLA will all likely have had their facelifts by then too.

M

 

[Kowalski]

The SLR was a fanf#ckingtastic car. Specially the Roadster version.

 

[hannaz]

I only ever drove one once, I was 22 at the time and crapping myself in rush hour traffic.... Anyone else actually taken one for a proper spin ?

I had the fortune to cover it for my show in 2013 from Dubai, and my fortune was so good that the one I covered was 722 edition. But the drive was not for long, as it was a customer car, anyway with in that span of time I really had a blast.

 

[EnI]

AutoBild reports about new GLA, new B-class and brand new GLB mini-SUV.

Obviously GLA will go even more SAC-crossover way, B-class will be even more practical & versatile, and proper mini-SUV GLB will take on X1 & Q3 directly.