Hypersonic

What you say is true in one sense Chris, but, in the greater scheme of things, Mercedes-Benz is a greater marque than Bentley, Rolls-Royce, or Maybach will ever be -- Rolls-Royce have built some excellent cars in the past ...but in all honestly, Mercedes were always better. Mercedes has always been at the forefront of engineering research and development. Mercedes, almost certainly, must still be the most admired auto brand in the world.

Also, I am thinking we will see a coupe from Maybach in the not-too-distant future ...I just hope it doesn't look like the Exelero ...I don't like the Exelero at all. But the new Rolls-Royce coupe isn't looking very pretty either.

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cawimmer430

I agree with that as well.

It's just that most people would perceive Bentley as being more prestigeous overall because they've never made trucks or buses etc. IMO though, the fact that Mercedes' made some of these things, added more prestige to their name.

On another forum, I am arguing with a guy about why Mercedes-Benz Taxis actually gave the brand more prestige than most people would suspect.

I claimed that passengers riding in Mercedes' taxis were impressed with the build quality or mileage for example - and that itself is excellent brand advertising. Also, taxi owners desired Mercedes' taxis in the first place because of their reputation for longlivity and such.

In Germany, I've often ridden in taxis and I always find myself starting a conversation with the taxi driver about the car, especially if it was a Mercedes taxi. I am sure many others do as well, especially tourists. In the older days, the taxi drivers had only positive things to say about the car. Reliable, runs forever etc.

With the W210 and early W211's, things took a little dive though. Still, you get the idea, right?

Hypersonic

Hello Chris,

I think the prestige thing is interesting ...and has a lot to do with the different social structures between the UK and Germany. Rolls-Royce and Bentley have always been tied up with the old British class system. Rolls-Royce was always associated with the British Establishment ...Charles Rolls, himself, was an aristocrat. As we know, Rolls-Royce has long been seen as a symbol of British Royalty -- even though for many years Daimler (the British Daimler, not Daimler-Benz) were the official cars of the King.

Mercedes was always less about image and more about function -- a product of German industrial Modernism. Although Britain was the first industrialized nation, the average English citizen never embraced the Industrial revolution the way the Germans did. It seems to me, Germans love industry and technology ..and embraced it, particularly after WW1, with great passion.

Even in the late twentieth century, the German love of technology was evident, even from such things as Techno music -- which started in German underground clubs.

I saw a documentary about WW2 on The Discovery Channel, there were some tanks the Nazis had -- they were so incredibly well built ....so superior to anything the Allies had. The one thing was, the Germans didn't have so many of these tanks because they were so "over-engineered" and carefully made they were time-consuming to build. This is something the whole world has long admired, the German attitude of building things to the highest possible standard. Made In Germany -- still has a resonance about it that is unmatched by any other country of origin -- even if many German brands now actually make their products in Eastern Europe or Asia.

Splenditenes

Nice preview, I`m not surprised by the praise this new CL is getting so far. As far as "bang for the buck" goes on paper, this new CL run circles around the Bently CGT with almost 25 Hi-Tech features the Bentley CGT has never even thought of! German and American excutive business-men, rejoyce. The only thing the Bentley has going for it is the name, "old-school design" and hand built quality. I also believe this new CL would beat the Bently CGT!
The outgoing CL600 beat the CGT, why wouldn`t this new CL do the same. It`s better

As for those who don`t consider Bentey a compeditor, think twice, because Bentley has announced that thay want to compete with the German car market when thay designed the Flying Spur sedan. (Expect lower Bently models in the future) That aside this CL is really nice.

The Designo interior (as shown) would be awesome with the AMG-Sport package! This really decks the car out a good deal!

888

I disagree, i would take CL63 easily over GT and AM, no any questions about luxurious as well.

The Artist

^second that..others dont stand a chance..im sowie..

Pagani

I simply do not understand the "more bang for the buck" regarding Bentleys in relation to Mercedes. Where exactly is the additional "bang" in the case of the Conti GT and the CL 600? Same price, admitedly two exteriors and interiors beautiful in their own right--subjective critera. Now to the objective stuff: two bi-turbo 12-pots. One claiming 550hp (B), the other 512 (M), except that the later handily beats the crap out of the first one in any comparison test I have had the chance to read so far. One more subjective bs coming from me: on one hand you have a down-market move for bentley, on the other, the very core of mercedes' competency, the very maker of the category! For me there is indeed a bang I hear, and I see smoke coming out of MB's barrel!

Pagani

Cawimmer, thanks for the summary. Also, based on your track record, shall we expect a first hand road test from you any time soon for the CL 600?

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