Ride along with the Mercedes-Benz  CL55 AMG as it drifts through the Nurburgring. The Nurburgring is one of the most challenging tracks in the world for both driver and vehicle. Various turn cambers, slopes, hills, and thrills create an amazing challenge that wears down parts, requires specially built engines, and drivers with intense stamina. Watching the CL55 AMG drift through Nurburgring, you can see how the advanced technology built into the Benz helps it achieve maximum drift angles at mind-boggling speeds.

Mercedes-Benz builds their vehicles with Nurburgring in mind, testing each model for performance and reliability on this course. The close ratio steering, large amounts of low end torque, and high horsepower of the CL55 AMG make it an ideal drifter. Read more about the Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

Cash for Clunkers is over and the government and many dealers proclaim it as an overwhelming success. But at what cost? Many rather unusual and possibly valuable cars were sacrificed during the program; a few that will make the car enthusiasts among us cringe.

There were a number of questions raised when scanning through the list published on September 9th by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To be eligible for the Cash for Clunkers program, vehicles were specified to only get 19 miles-per-gallon or less, measured by their previously published EPA rating. Yet a few vehicles that were submitted generally get better fuel mileage than the benchmark set by the program rules.

As troubling as that was, it is underscored by the list of truly desirable enthusiast cars that were traded in as clunkers. This raises some troubling questions as to the reasoning behind the transaction. Scanning through the list, here are 12 different vehicles that should have been saved from their eventual fate of being scrapped. These 12 cars will be met with the usual questions as to how this was allowed to happen in the first place, or what kind of person would trade such a vehicle, replacing it with a Hyundai or a Toyota? Continue reading about the “Dirty Dozen”, with details about each one at Automotive Traveler.

I remember in the mid 1990s thinking Brabus was an incredible, almost mystical brand. I knew of a guy in Boston with two absolutely sick Brabus built cars back then. Those cars were pushing the limits and when you saw them you felt somehow like you were looking at the future, everything else looked old sitting next to it. This was the era of the Brabus 3 spoke rims, which were super hot at the time and now are an ugly memory to most, after being copied by just about everyone for a decade or so.

Enter the Black Baron by Brabus. I get that feeling all over again when I look at this car. Too bad the damn thing costs $800,000 USD. Anyway, have a look at some inspiration right here. Continue reading at The Real JDM

This car is hot! When the fellas take it out on the highway for the first time and head out to Vegas, it was hard not to become reminiscent about taking a road trip with my best buds. Now I must ask , what is your favorite road trip car? How many times have you seen The Hangover? List them below and check out the rest of the post over at LuxVelocity

I had the opportunity to road test the Freightliner version of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, and came away quite impressed. With this morning’s announcement that makes it certain that Dodge will be losing the Sprinter, Freightliner dealers will still be in the hunt, along with select Mercedes-Benz Dealers.

Continue reading "A Dodge No More: Behind the Wheel of a Freightliner Sprinter" »

I still haven’t made it to NorthWest MogFest. Thankfully, my friends went again this year to prove how lame I am.

Mogfest started out as a gathering for Unimog owners to hang out and drive their machines. It’s grown into a gathering for all European off-road machines.

I’ll try to go next year and prove my manhood. Until then, enjoy the pictures my friends sent to me. (Special thanks to Doug, Luke, Art, Andy, Pete and the rest of the clan.)

Continue reading "NorthWest MogFest 2009" »

VITT is a rarely discussed Japanese tuner with a penchant for producing widebody Mercedes-Benz street and show cars. Since widebody Benzes are hard to come by already and JDM tuned Benzes are even rarer, I thought it would be a unique topic to share here.

VITT also produces various other tuning parts for Mercedes to accompany their aero parts for a full conversion. As expected from JDM VIP style tuning, VITT uses wide three piece rims with stretched tires to complete the aggressive look.

I must say that although I appreciate what they are doing, I don’t think they’ve quite hit any home runs as far as design goes. I wouldn’t say any of their design is bad, but for a commitment as big as a widebody is (both the produce and to buy/install) I’d like to hope that it would be something spectacular. Their newer stuff like this CL widebody below is seeming to improve a bit over their older widebodies. I like the lines of the rear fender and rear bumper on the CL, there are some nice design concepts in there.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Japanese Widebody Mercedes-Benzes" »

Up until now, we’ve avoided big-name companies in the Hemmings Six Degrees of Separation Challenge series simply because the bigger a company gets the more pies it has fingers in. But why not see how two big companies are connected? After all, as we’ve stipulated (and as you’ve so eagerly responded), the point of this little exercise is to come up with obscure links rather than to connect two companies in the shortest way possible. Continue reading at Hemmings.

The Benz G Class is one of those cars that never seems to change. With a life span comparable to the Lotus Esprit, the G Class has outlived numerous decades of design and techological change. With a history of textbook function over looks philosophy, one has to look in amazement at this modified G Class.

The G Classless as I’ll refer to it, was modified by a private owner (I’m presuming) who felt that what the G Class really needed was a E Class front end. I think any good friend would tell you that doing this is a terrible idea, but somehow nobody warned of what it would end up as.

So here we go, your hater fodder for the day. The G Classless Benz. Via Autogespot

Continue reading "Hater Fodder: Mercedes-Benz G Classless" »

These are old pics at this point, but I still think this is a super nice S class Benz. I wanted to share some nice quality pics from you courtesy of Wald. Super Hi-Res just the way I like ‘em.

Continue reading "Wald S Class Mercedes Benz" »

Most of the time, when I see a semi, my first instinct is to get the hell away from it. I’ve heard plenty of stories about bikers being injured by flying treads and been buffeted by their “jet-wash” enough times to view these freeway behemoths as my natural enemies. The lone exception? During the tropical downpours in Florida—they happen like clockwork every summer afternoon—following the lights of big trucks was the only way I was able to keep pace in otherwise blinding rain. But hey, even T-Rexes had to frolic every once in a while. Check out this sweet clip of a Mercedes rig turning donuts.

As I reported earlier on the development of A Bathing Ape’s Founder Nigo’s 300SL Gullwing Benz, I thought I’d follow up with the pics of the car.

Although I thought he might do something that would be a mix of classy with modern trend/fashion, he ended up just doing something retarded. Who knows…maybe that is the point of art, to deface a classic rare car with something over the top modern like BAPE Camo vinyl.

Everyone likes to watch as someone deface a classic car. Its like a horror film but with a comic twist. This one predictably ends in disaster. More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Nigo’s 300SL Gullwing Benz" »

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to see if there’s room in the muscle car universe for a German sedan. This is the second Mercedes Benz über-sedan that I have profiled in this series, and I think it was the better of the two. So, let’s take a look at what happens when you take a standard, everyday German Sedan, stuff a huge engine under the hood from what is essentially a large limousine, and bring it to a performance-hungry market. Introducing the Mercedes Benz 300SEL 6.3.

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: The Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3" »

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to shoot bullet-holes in conventional thinking while we’re at it. This particular featured car should stir up a lot of debate, not only because of its debut in 1975, but also because it was built in Germany. Without further delay, I present the Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot – The Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9" »

I got nothing for this one. Bad things happen when RennTech gets ahold of anything. This is just more proof that the whole Euro styling thing is not grounded in reality or good taste. There’s enough Seibon carbon fibre on this thing to build a space shuttle.

Continue reading "Flat Pink Mercedes" »