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October 5, 2010
Big Bad Benz Truck
Atomicalex
While Mercedes-Benz is known best as a luxury car maker in the US, in Germany, they make and sell everything from tiny city cars to giant city buses. And if it wasn’t raining over here all the time, I might be able to get a decent pic of some of their big stuff. This truck sure deserves one – it’s a purpose-built road-and-rail truck that, you guessed it, runs on train tracks as well as the road. This one is used to clean the rails and the clips and plates that secure the rails to the sleepers and rail ties. A pic of the custom hydraulics for the rail wheels after the jump…
September 27, 2010
iForged Misha Designs Widebody SL Project Headed for SEMA
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
Vincent over at iForged just let me know about this cool 2004 SL55 he’s building for SEMA. It features a Misha Designs widebody and our buddy Brian Fox is hooking him up with BASF paint. Both the color and the iForged wheels will be a surprise, so stay tuned and watch his ride page for update!
September 10, 2010
AMG E-Cell in Paris
Atomicalex
Wandering around Paris behind the Eiffel Tower, I came across the AMG crew shooting some promotional video for the AMG E-Cell, a full-electric based on the Mercedes-Benz SLS that may or may not actually go to production in 2013. The crew was not forthcoming with any information about the actual drivetrain in this car (as in, is it the real drivetrain, or a golf cart motor?), but didn’t mind my camera one bit. I love the wheels – odd as I’m generally not a fan of flat faces. These are just perfect, though! A bunch of pics after the jump!
September 9, 2010
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Drifting
Tampa Sports Car Examiner
Thanks to senior stunt driver Ed Redfern, we get to see what it’s like to slide the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG around on wet pavement. The SLS AMG has built a very good reputation with videos such as the upside down tunnel run, a lap around Nurburgring, and outstanding crash test footage. What’s next for the flagship Mercedes-Benz vehicle? Read more at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.
July 19, 2010
2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK Spotted in Cali
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Rich Truesdell spied what he believes to be the upcoming SLK 350 on Friday while cruising in California. Is there anyone else who feels that from the front wheels forward it might resemble the next-generation Dodge Charger? See more pics at Automotive Traveler.
April 21, 2010
Toyota Supra Wrecks Into Mercedes-Benz
Tampa Sports Car Examiner
Sliding out of control after the unknown, this Toyota Supra smashed into the side of a Mercedes-Benz SL. What really happened here? It appears that the Supra was maybe drifting or doing a burnout and just lost control. Comment your thoughts below and read more at Tampa Sports Car Examiner!
April 15, 2010
Malmsheim Airport
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
So after a day and a half of looking at Mercedes cars and talking about their design, we finally got to drive them. Mercedes took us out to Malmsheim Airport, which they lease for testing and demonstration purposes. We had the opportunity to take several of their cars on handling course, got to ride along for a demonstration of their “Pre-Safe” braking system braking system (check out my video of the demo on StreetFire), and finally they turned us loose on the back roads and the Autobahn.
Sadly, the new Gullwing was not available to test. And I just missed snagging the keys to the E63 AMG (you can read my friend Muamer’s take on this beast at Benz Insider). So I had to “settle” for a bright red SL 500 Roadster.
We don’t get this one over here. I think Mercedes understands that we Americans love our horsepower, so they send over the 382 hp SL 550. But the 302 hp V8 was plenty for this car. Not tire melting or anything, but definitely a solid and smooth performer.
In general it seems that all Mercedes cars are incredibly well-engineered and sorted out. Personally, I prefer my cars to be a bit more rude and crude. But it’s hard to complain when driving such nicely composed vehicles, and I really enjoyed taking the gorgeous red roadster on the back roads of Germany. Before going back to the hotel I also got a chance to drive the 231 hp turbocharged V6 diesel E350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Coupe. Definitely the nicest diesel I’ve ever driven, and it was smooth as hell at 200 kph on the Autobahn.
Overall, the whole experience was a blast (I’m not even gonna brag about all the food and wine I got to consume along the way). Thanks to the great folks in Stuttgart for having me out. Hope I can do it again some time!
April 14, 2010
Mercedes-Benz Design Studio
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
On my second day in Stuttgart I got to visit the Mercedes-Benz design studio. Since a lot of the stuff at the site is top secret, I had to turn over my cameras and iPhone. So all the pics in this post were shot by a Mercedes photographer during the presentation and then provided to us the next day.
We started out with an up-close look at the current E-Class range, then went on to discuss some of their more recent concepts. If you dig the shape of the F800 below (revealed last month in Geneva), you’ll be happy to know that much of the design language will show up in the next version of the C-Class, due in 2014.
Next they took us into a darkened room where they showed off their Autodesk Showcase software and the huge screen capable or presenting 3D concepts in 1:1 scale in various colors and with different backgrounds. A light table with mini color-coded models allows you to rotate and zoom the renderings on the screen to your heart’s content. Pretty cool! There was quite a bit of discussion about design process, which takes four to five years for new models. Mercedes futurologist Alexander Mankowsky told us that they see themselves as the “ambassadors of European style.” I wonder how the Italians feel about that…
Finally we went over to the interior design area, where they showed us what goes into creating their dashboards, seats, door panels, etc. Throughout the morning there was a lot of talk of the environment and sustainability, which seemed funny to me when we’re talking about luxury cars. For example, Mercedes even has their own dedicated farms to raise bulls for the leather (not cows–they get pregnant and their skin stretches too much!). However, Mercedes cars are definitely built to last, which is a good thing.
April 13, 2010
Mercedes-Benz Museum
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
Last week I spent a few days in Stuttgart, Germany, hanging out with the good folks at Mercedes-Benz. My first stop was the Mercedes-Benz Museum, constructed at considerable expense in 2006. If you ever find yourself in southern Germany, I would definitely recommend stopping by. The architecture is pretty amazing (check out the cool elevators zipping up and down on the pic below), but given the fact that I didn’t have too much time, I mostly focused on the cars. You can see all the pics I shot in our events section, but I’ve posted a few highlights (with links to video!) after the jump.
March 31, 2010
NYIAS: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief
Just got back from the live unveil of the new SLS GT3 customer race car, which should be through the homologation process in time for next year’s race season. Looks pretty sweet, huh? More pics after the jump, including shots of the street car, which is now officially priced at $183,000.
