Text Ted Macauley
Keep up to speed with the all the latest news from the motoring world
Glamour in motion
New Mercedes-Benz models set to wow the crowds at Swiss motor show
The Geneva Motor Show will inevitably set the scene for updates to what individual manufacturers believe is the unbeatable. How successful they are with their newest offerings is, of course, in the hands of the buying public.
But one company, Mercedes-Benz, awakening from the design doldrums of its recent past, looks set to take the show by storm and give the likes of German opponents BMW and Audi a reminder of its illustrious pedigree.
The smart, all-new C-class saloon is widely considered the best they have ever built – and I go along with that opinion.
It is roomy, economical, fast, and as safe as can be, with seven air bags and a superb skid-control system to help those who can’t help themselves. And at around €37,800 for, say, the C200 CDI Sport saloon – the one I had for a week – the price is right considering the quality the boys from Stuttgart have built into it.
But there is more to come at the Swiss showcase. Also being unveiled is a revised SL – as luxurious a contender as you would want on the two-seater roadster battleground. If ever there was a car that exemplified glamour in motion, the SL has always been it – blisteringly fast, strong, yet refined, and with just about all the equipment you’d ever need as standard. You could almost shred the tyres on the power output from the V12’s ballistic 612 bhp yet still feel in absolute control.
For those with less than Schumacher requirements there is the slower V6, giving out 272bhp. The sleek and mighty newcomer, whose planned sales release is spring, will incorporate the best of its outgoing sibling while offering a 9% boost in economy figures, Mercedes promises.
It will look different, too, with a wider front-end grille, a single silver bar flanking the three-point star, and an overall profile that harks back to the marque’s halycon race days of the 50s.
Back on track?
Schumacher turns down big-buck offers designed to tempt him back to F1
Ross Brawn, the former Benetton and Ferrari strategist behind legend Michael Schumacher’s seven world championship titles, has ruled out a return to Grand Prix racing for the retired German ace.
Schumacher has toyed with karts and fun cars, plus test sessions for the Italian world champions, triggering notions that he might be building up to a big-time comeback. Top teams are rumoured to have approached him with offers topping €35m.
But Brawn – now with Honda – insists: “Michael loves driving, and he loves the interaction with engineers to make a car better; that’s why I can see testing is fulfilling for him. But race in F1 again?
I don’t think so. And I can never imagine him leaving Ferrari. He loves his ambassadorial role with them.”
Gearing up for Grand Prix 2008
Three of F1’s most famous drivers are to go head to head in what promises to be the highest-octane season yet
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone is excited at the prospect of a thriller of a 2008 season with the three greatest drivers competing in different teams.
World champion Kimi Räikkönen stays at Ferrari for his title defence with a pay deal boosted to around €28m; twice-champion Fernando Alonso has switched back to Renault after a miserable stint with McLaren; and Lewis Hamilton, the rookie sensation Alonso couldn’t get on with, remains with the team that offloaded the disgruntled Spaniard.
“It was a terrific season and next year will be even better – I guarantee it,” says Ecclestone. “We have three wonderful and committed drivers with no love lost between them, going for it in teams that know how to win, with cars that will bring the best out of them. What more could you want?
“I can’t wait. I believe Hamilton will be even quicker than he was last year – and he was pretty quick then…”
In the news
Renault’s top safety record
If safety is your priority when buying a new car, look no further than Renault. The French manufacturer’s Laguna II was the first vehicle ever to achieve a five-star rating in passive safety assessment tests by Euro NCAP in 2001 and 2003, and now the new Laguna has won the same rating, as well as one of the highest scores ever recorded (36 points out of 37). The company researched real-life scenarios to maximise safety levels, and even though their cars are lighter in weight they are stronger and more secure than their award-winning predecessors.
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