“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
We can be pretty sure John Keats wasn’t thinking about automotive sheetmetal when he penned those words in 1818. But if Keats had been scribbling just 191 years later, his inspiration could very well have been this elegant and sexy coupe.
Okay, trying to set one current Mercedes automobile above the others in terms of beauty is tough; theyall look terrific. Still, this coupe version of the latest Mercedes E-class, its sweeping roofline uninterrupted by a B pillar, is on a look-at-me par with the big Mercedes CL coupes, minus their mass and massive price tags.
Do not interpret this to mean bargain. The basic E350 coupe, with a 268-hp, 3.5-liter V-6, is $48,925. That soars to $55,525 for the E550, with its 382-hp, 5.5-liter V-8. Check all the option groups, and you wind up with a package like our test car: a cool $66,375. On the other hand, the most recent previous E-class coupe—the 1994 E320—started at $62,075. Wow.
The new coupe shares architectural elements with the E-class sedan, as well as its techno-goodies and a bevy of safety features, many of them standard. But there are also pieces from the C-class stable, contributing to much tidier dimensions. For the coupe, the E sedan’s 113.1-inch wheelbase has been trimmed to 108.7. That two-door is 6.7 inches shorter and 2.7 inches narrower than the four-door, and its 54.0-inch roof is 3.2 inches lower.
Keep Reading: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E550 Coupe - Short Take Road Test
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