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I understand the idea of retro-inspired cars. Well, in theory anyway. But could someone explain why Mercedes would chose to crib the rear end of a 1998 Acura CL for their SLS AMG?
35 Comments on “What’s Wrong With This Picture: SLS AMG/Acura CL Edition...”
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I don’t think those two are particularly similar.
But that’s just me…
Apart from the lights the angles are pretty close.. the MB has a more concave arse though, and it looks much better.
Actually, I find the Mercedes CL to be more like the Acura CL than what the SLS is. There, they not only cribbed the looks, but the name as well. Or is it the other way around?
Waaghals: Well, one’s a sedan and the other’s a sportscar. Shrink that CL’s skin and stretch it over a two-door coupe, and you have the SLS.
I was really hoping the SLS would change my negativity towards Merc styling, but dammit, it just hasn’t.
Japaneese cars have been hit with a “bland” stick.
German cars have been hit with the “Ugly – e.g. Bangle” stick. (Notable exception: VW/Audi)
American cars – what American cars?
Everybody has a butt. They differ considerably, and some are better looking than others, but they all have the same basic lines. I’m not complaining.
# Ingvar :
September 29th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Actually, I find the Mercedes CL to be more like the Acura CL than what the SLS is. There, they not only cribbed the looks, but the name as well. Or is it the other way around?
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If I remember correctly, MB CL was called “S-class” when Acura CL was introduced.
Nah, I’m thinking more along the lines of the Infinti J30’s posterior.
I agree with dmrdano. I don’t see an article-in-the-making here at all.
I must admit that I have never seen an Acura CL except for the picture in the OP, but I maintain that apart from some small similarities (the shape of the trunk) the difference is pretty big.
Although I like Merc’s current design language, I have no intention of defending the SLS.
Do not look the same to me. Now, about the Maserati Coupe stealing the rear end from a Honda Prelude…
Twotone
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/two2tone/Maserati-Coupe_2005_800x600_wallpap.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/two2tone/prelude.jpg
I think the trunk lines triggered the reaction, less so the lights, but even those are different enough.
You could ask: Given the trend to stretch headlights and taillights why not just join them and form a ring around the car?
@twotone:
whoa
twotone: What makes the Prelude ripoff all the more galling is how cool the old “boomerang” taillights were.
I see more Sky/Solstice than anything else, but that’s just me…
cribed as in both rears have lights and a trunk? I think the Genesis is much more deserving of cribbing scorn.
I see more Sky/Solstice than anything else, but that’s just me…
Seconded.
Maybe the word “cribbed” wasn’t the best. How about “derivative”, “uninspired”, or “boring”?
I will tell you how boring this rear end is: if you give it to me (along with the rest of the car) I will drive it with a grin for years. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, and I think this is beautiful. I once owned a (cue the shame) Chevy Citation. Compared to that, this is a beauty queen.
frizzlefry: I think the Genesis is much more deserving of cribbing scorn.
My expectations for Mercedes’ top halo sports car and a Hyundai sedan are different. But your comment makes me re-think that. Kudos to Hyundai; they’ve accomplished their mission!
Paul Niedermeyer: My expectations for Mercedes’ top halo sports car and a Hyundai sedan are different. But your comment makes me re-think that. Kudos to Hyundai; they’ve accomplished their mission!
I would agree there…they accomplished it so well that when I see the new E-Class I think, “Wow, that looks like the Genesis”
But at least the C-pillar seems inspired by the Buick Riatta . . .
On the Honda Prelude/Maserati Coupe possible theft, I think both have glanced more than once at the Jaguar XJ-S:
http://www.gentrylane.com/gen_site/89_jaguar_xjs/89xjs_rear.jpg
Everybody steals from everybody else, ok? And, as Quentin Tarantino says, it’s not a theft, it’s an homage.
Thanks Ingvar,
There is almost nothing completely new. Ever.
Every design is derived, inspired and/or evolved from something else.
Funny, I always thought the rear styling/tail lights of that Acura CL its least favorable aspect. Yes, the SLS AMG is vaguely similar, but it made me realize that the MB W204 (current C Class) is a complete rip-off of the Acura’s rear lights.
If you had the chance to see it in Frankfurt, as I did, you wouldn’t be thinking Acura. You’d be thinking, “Time to buy some lottery tickets!”
Interestingly, the original CL coupe was one of Acura’s LEAST derivative designs. Well, until the freakish styling of their entire current line of course…
Must due out of empathy that their team member suffered two a-bombs back in WW2.
I liked the CL. I wish that Honda or Mercedes produced anything that pretty now.
If Acuras still looked like that, I’d probably buy one.
OK! I am an arse man – not too much ,mind you, but neither of those are worthy, regardless the price!
To paraphrase an earlier poster, there’s only so much you can do with a rear end. In fact, those of most of the Japanese family sedans couild be seen as cribbing off of each other, or, alternatively, all the designers are totally uninspired.
That said, I like the MB. I’d give it a B+ or A-. Whereas your typical Japanese family sedan gets a C-.
(On my grading scale, cars that achieve genuine good looks get at least a B-. Those that don’t offend too badly get somewhere in the C’s.)
I don’t see it at all…there are more similarities between the SLS and the 300SL…
And even if you insist that there are similarities, I highly doubt that anyone in Stuttgart has ever seen this America-only car. So if there are similarities at all, they’re most likely coincidental.
If those pics are are what passes for similarity, then I’m a dead ringer for Fabio!
The SLS’ rear end is an evolved instance of the current paradigm of trunk-lip design, characterized by its cleaving away, its weaning away, from the tail-lamp section and rear flanks.
Whom do we have to thank for this design increment? It is Chris Bangle, who introduced and popularized it on the 2001+ 7-series.
This might be the full-blown incarnation of this design element on a two seat coupé (the 6-series is the four-seat coupé intro); the Z4’s rear is a tamed version of this move.
I see similarities to the Mazda RX-8 at first glance. Not so much the rear in particular as much as the entire rear/side view.