Road Test: 2009 Mercedes-Benz CL 550 4MATIC

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The Gentlemen's Express

Mercedes' big—and rare—full-size coupé carries on a vanishing auto genre

By John LeBlanc As a two-door, hardtop version of the relatively more ubiquitous Mercedes-Benz S Class full-size luxury sedan, the CL coupe is a rare bird. Mercedes only sells a few every year. Teutonic rivals BMW and Audi don't have anything like it. In fact, the big 'Benz's only real competition comes from the Bentley Continental GT, which is nearly twice as expensive. Yet with two different V8s and a pair of V12s, Mercedes-Benz Canada certainly offers a lot of big coupé choice. My tester was the more-than-competent “base model” CL 550 4MATIC. With $6,500 Sport and $5,200 Premium packages and the $3,200 adaptive cruise control, its $130,500 base price was elevated to $145,400. You can draw a direct line from the current CL Class to the 1981 Mercedes 560 SEC, the company's first modern Gentlemen's Express. In the automotive context, it's easier to define a Gentlemen's Express by subtraction rather than addition. Here's what it's not: A four-door sedan (that's for your driver to whisk you to important board meetings); a two-seat roadster or sports car (with only a pair of seats, who will drive the Watsons home when they've become too tipsy after your weekly game of bridge?); a  2+2 grand tourer, (a vehicle that screams “dirty weekend” worse than booking the honeymoon suite as Mr. and Mrs. Smith). And it's definitely not a blinged and dubbed SUV (vulgar vehicles reserved for pig farmers and hoodlums). Perhaps a touch old-fashioned, a Gentlemen's Express hasn't been considered cool since Winston Churchill was still drawing air from one of his favourite Romeo y Julieta stogeys. Even in literature, it's a type of car that's considered archaic. Look at the literary James Bond 007. Over the course of 12 novels and two short story anthologies, author Ian Fleming's car casting evolved from a classy-but-big 1933 Bentley to a svelte-and-sexy Aston Martin DB Mark III 2+2, or “DB III” in the books Retired head of Mercedes design Bruno Sacco penned the 560 SEC during a time when engineering was a priority in the company over niche-product marketing. Mercedes vehicles were designed to last 20 to 30 years. Sacco's job was to make sure their looks would last just as long. Most of the designer's creations — like the '79 S Class, '89 SL Roadster, '94 E Class, or the baby brother to the 560 SEC, the '88 300 CE — still look crisp, original and modern today. Only time will tell if the 2009 CL 550 4MATIC will become a classic by 2029. As proof, more than a quarter-century later, his SEC still looks crisp, unique and modern. One feature that separates today's Mercedes and Bentley large coupés from smaller grand touring 2+2s is their full-sized interiors. Compared to the two-seat $125,000 SL 550 Roadster, there's plenty of space up front for the driver and passenger in the '09 CL 550. And they can adjust its thrones in ways only imaginable by Cirque du Soleil contortionists, although there's less room in the back than what's available in an S Class sedan. Impeccably solid and well crafted, the CL 550's cockpit is a compendium of old and new. Reams of neatly stitched and pleated leather and planks of real wood are offset by digital instrumentation and a central control unit. All these interior advantages in space, though, means the CL is a truly large car. A pair of Smarts could probably be parked in the trunk and there would still be room for a week's worth of groceries. Maybe. But around town, it doesn't drive “big.” With a quick-shifting seven-speed autobox, and a creamy-smooth 5.5-litre V8 with 382 hp and 391 lb.-ft. of torque, the big und classy 'Merc coupé swooshes its occupants along like a corporate jet avoiding unwanted paparazzi. Mercedes claims 5.4 seconds from 0- to-100 km/h, which makes the four-seat CL as quick as the two-seat SL 550. If you need to go quicker — and the accountants have grounded your Lear — there's always the 603 hp, twin-turbo V12 CL 65 AMG. It wills itself from 0-to-100 km/h in just 4.2 seconds. But then it costs $238,500. Except for the power steering that's finger-light and as numb as Captain Ahab's peg leg, the CL 550 is a worthy way of getting down the road. Its air suspension handles the big coupe's equally large 2,035 kg mass relatively well, There's little compromise in ride comfort relative to the limo-like S Class, smothering the worst of Ontario's potholes. Yet there's little suspension “float” that's normally associated with such large vehicles. And for those concerned with winter weekends away, also consider the 550 the only CL with all-wheel-drive. In due course, though, a tight twisty road confirms that a vehicle as big and heavy as the CL 550 is no sports car. I guess that's why Mercedes offers the SL Roadster. There's a long-held axiom that the separation between men and boys is determined by the size of their toys.If you want to distinguish yourself from the herd even further, try driving 'Benz's Gentleman's Express. 2009 Mercedes-Benz CL 550 4MATIC PRICE: $130,500 base, $145,400 as tested ENGINE: 5.5L V8 POWER/TORQUE: 382 hp/391 lb.-ft. FUEL ECONOMY: City 15.4 L/100 km (18 mpg); hwy 9.7 L (29 mpg); as tested 14.8 L (19 mpg) COMPETITION: Bentley Continental GT WHAT'S BEST: A rare form of comfort, room and speed. WHAT'S WORST: Steers like a limo; not very nimble. WHAT'S INTERESTING: The current CL Class is a direct descendant from Mercedes' first full-size two-door, the 1981 SEC

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