Mercedes CL: Gone is the big coupe

We can’t see into the future. We live the present and can only assume what the future will hold, Mercedes-Benz however like to bend this. When it comes to technology fitted to the latest models of their cars, no one comes close to Mercedes. They are the leaders, adding systems you didn’t even know you needed, but when it finally goes mainstream across all cars you can’t remember how you ever lived without it.

It is fair to say if you want to know the latest and greatest in automotive technology, sit inside a brand new flagship Mercedes-Benz, and it most likely will be fitted to your car in around 10 years time.

Big brash and bling. The Mercedes way

Before we go any further, I would like to preface that this article is about the C215 CL, built between 2001–2005. For me, it is the pick of the bunch, unapologetically a Mercedes-Benz.

Consider your big German 3. Audi. BMW. Mercedes-Benz. Audi is quiet, sensible and blends in, and BMWs are fun no matter whether you are driving a low-spec 1 series or a M5 Competition.

Mercedes however should be loud, lined with chrome on every grill and corner, fitted with 20" diamond cut wheels, finished with a white or cream leather interior, and with white rugs, it should exude status, money and be ‘flashy’.

This is why this is the CL to be spoken about, this era of Mercedes-Benz was bang on when making cars for their audience, it was true to self, it is the car equivalent of someone wearing their entire net worth. That was the CL.

Whether it was the CL500 or the V12 CL 65 AMG, this car made sure everybody knew its price tag. The chrome grill, the pillar less windows and the big doors, big enough so the owners could have an excuse to park over two parking spots, and the sheer size of it, a car that truly wore the 3-pointed star with pride.

This car would not settle for second

The CL is a luxury car, and to be a luxury car, you consistently have to ask ‘what’s next?’, Mercedes earned their reputation by being at the forefront of innovators, so it is only right to keep this up and upping the levels with each new model.

Full hydraulic suspension all round, radar-assisted cruise control, Bi-Xenon headlights, voice controlled infotainment system, and soft close doors, all featuring on a car released 24 years ago.

The majority of those features are still optional-extras on cars produced today, and Mercedes was fitting them to their cars in 2001. This is the same year in which Oceans Eleven was released, ‘It wasn’t me’ by Shaggy was the biggest song of the year in the UK, and Michael Owen won the Balon d’Or.

A depreciated legend

My favourite category of car is ones that have faced damning depreciation. I’m talking 80% of its list price when it was new has weathered and willowed away, as various new models have subsequently been released, and that early 2000’s fancy technology has started to show its age and reliability.

The CL is arguably the king of the depreciators, with most 500s, 600s and 55 AMG’s able to be picked up for less than £10,000.

Now obviously you’ll spend that much and then some just running it everyday, but being able to have that much cars for that little money seems like an opportunity that would tempt anyone with an interest in cars.

With engines getting smaller, and the character of cars following suit, it will only be so long before these cars, and cars of a similar vein start to go back up in price, especially when every single car of the road is jacked up, a cross-over, or an SUV.

The SUV-ification of the car world. The end of the big coupe.

Twenty five years ago, wealth and status in car form was represented primarily by big saloons and coupes, I would mention the supercar, but the only people who could afford these cars unfortunately couldn’t afford the back pains they would get as a result of owning them.

The 7 Series, S-Class and the CL, Continental GT, Azure, Arnage, Phantom, A8, LS400, were the chauffeur car of choice for the lucky few.

But ever since the third-generation of the Range Rover, the flurry of SUVs from brands is inconceivable.

I mean even brands that twenty years ago you would never imagine making an SUV.

Bentley with the Bentayga, Rolls-Royce with the Cullinan, Aston Martin with the DBX, all turning to the cash cow that is the SUV. The undeniable road presence, the size, it all screams the wealth and status that the CL had over 20 years ago.

All it takes is to watch a ‘Premier League footballers arriving to training’ video to see what I mean, it is a sea of bulky off-roaders with 23" alloy wheels and the lowest of low profile tires fitted to them.

I don’t hate SUV’s, I just wish there was some variation. I want to see pillar less windows, I want to see cars longer than London buses and lower than speed boats, I want cars with character.

I want the Mercedes CL back.