At long last, Mercedes-Benz is about done wrenching on its forthcoming CLS Shooting Break. Lucky for us, our colleagues at Motor Trend were able to snap some shots of the car undergoing final testing.
We already knew that this car was coming, as Mercedes confirmed the car last November. Expect the CLS Shooting Brake to mirror the normal CLS in every way, with the exception of its rump. In place of the sloping, sinewy rear end will be the more upright, more wagon-like rear three quarter that can be seen here. Generally, previous shooting brakes have been two-door coupes which have had a hatch grafted onto the rear; here Mercedes is starting with its four-door coupe to create something closer to a wagon. The shape was previewed at the 2010 Paris Motor Show with the Shooting Brake Concept, which has turned out to be little more than a thinly-veiled preview of both the current CLS and the upcoming CLS Shooting Brake.
You can expect to see the same powertrain underhood as employed in the four-door CLS. In the case of the CLS 550, that means a 4.6-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 good for 402 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque, and a seven-speed automatic sending power to the rear wheels. We wouldn’t be surprised if the 518-hp 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 makes it way under the hood for anCLS 63 AMG version as well, although that model – much like the E63 AMG Wagon – may be a special-order model.
It also looks like the CLS won’t be the only car from the three-pointed star to receive a shooting brake bodystyle. We have previously reported that Mercedes’ front-wheel drive “baby CLS” – dubbed the CLC – will also receive a shooting brake spin-off shortly after its debut.
Make sure to head over to Motor Trend to check out the full set of spy shots of the CLS Shooting Brake.
