The 2016 Auctions America in Fort Lauderdale
#1
05-20-2016, 09:50 AM
The 2016 Auctions America in Fort Lauderdale
The 2016 Auctions America in Fort Lauderdale
Including a 2010 Spyker C8 Spyder sold at $220,000
By: Dave Kinney | Photography by: Auctions America May 20, 2016
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
April 1-3, 2016
Feature Car: 2010 Spyker C8 Spyder
Sold at $220,000
S/N XL9AABAG4AZ363219
Dark Sapphire Blue over blue leather interior. 4.2-liter, 400-hp V-8; six-speed manual transmission. As new throughout, no visible wear and excellent paint. The interior, which is a pleasing mix of leather and engine-turned alloys, is unmarked.
The Story Behind the Sale
Spyker is a Dutch-based auto company founded by Victor Muller that has brand connection to the Spyker aircraft, coachbuilding, and car manufacturer that was in business from 1880 to 1925. It celebrates its heritage with its logo, which features the image of an airplane propeller and rotary engine. You might remember that Spyker purchased Saab from General Motors in 2010—a move that bankrupted Saab a year later and brought Spyker to bankruptcy several years after that. Saab was ultimately sold to a Chinese consortium, and Spyker has been able to extricate itself from its financial morass and move toward building vehicles again.
Before all that, Spyker built several models of sports cars, the brand’s trademark being aviation-inspired designs and highly stylized details, similar to rival supercar builder Pagani. This car, a C8 Spyder, was built in 2010 and is one of the brand’s better-known models, but it’s still a rare bird.
All the boutique supercar tricks are present, with scissor-style doors, a clamshell-design hood, and plenty of diamond-quilted leather inside. A V-8 built by Audi is mounted amidships and is mated to a six-speed Getrag gearbox. Top speed is a claimed 186 mph, but only the brave are likely to attempt such a feat in such a small-volume car.
With all this convoluted company history, it is important to keep in mind that specialty and boutique sports car companies have often struggled in the marketplace. If you are the type who thinks owning a Ferrari or Lamborghini is following the crowd, this Spyker certainly offered exclusivity at a “reasonable” price.
1973 Jaguar E-type Series III V-12 Roadster
Sold at $70,950
S/N UD1S21517
Silver Metallic over black leather interior. 272-hp, 5.3-liter V-12; four-speed manual transmission. Reported to be a “100 percent original survivor.” 14,708 miles on the odometer. Faded paint with more than a few small dings and discoloration points, good chrome and trim, but nowhere near perfect. Original interior. A great period piece.
If you are into survivors, this is one of the best. It is still sitting on its original Dunlop tires from 1973, and you’d be foolish to take it out of first gear until you replaced them. Complete with the original window sticker, warranty cards, and owner’s manual. It’s rare to find one as untouched as this, and it would be a shame to turn it back into just another perfect concours car. This Jag has the three things Series III E-type owners are looking for: wire wheels, air-conditioning, and manual transmission. Sadly, probably better to display than use.
1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Sold at $41,800
S/N WP0EB0915KS170518
Velvet Red with brown canvas top over red leather seats. 214-hp, 3.2-liter flat-6; five-speed manual transmission. Decent paint said to be original. All trim appears to be good. This is not a show car but a well-kept driver. The interior shows some patina. From the last year of G-series 911 production.
What better way to remember the ’80s than with one of the cars that defined the era: a Porsche Carrera Cabriolet with a “whale tail” spoiler? This car is a later 3.2 Carrera with the G50 transmission, which many claim to be a better-shifting unit than the early 915 gearbox. Every 911 variant has seen a bump in price in the last two years, but the market has been leveling out in the last six months. Blame the sheer number of 911s available at any given time. Sold right in the sweet spot of values for this series. The 3.2 Carrera, with modern refinement and reliability, is also a real sweet spot in the broader 911 lineage.
Best Buy: 1993 Cadillac Allante Convertible
Sold at $5,610
S/N 1G6VS3396PU127174
White Diamond with black soft-top over maroon leather interior. 290-hp, 4.6-liter V-8; four-speed automatic transmission. Good paint with a few flaws. Some of the black trim is in need of reconditioning but certainly not a difficult fix. The interior shows some age and use wear but still looks nice. The engine compartment shows well. Cadillac Allantes in 1993 featured the Northstar 32-valve V-8 engine.
Still on the cusp between used cars and collector cars, the Allante is quickly moving from the former into the latter. When these cars were new, the Pininfarina-crafted and -designed bodies were flown on a customized 747 from Turin to Detroit for final assembly. Today, a good one costs about the same as a first-class ticket from L.A. to New York. As is so often the case, it’s worth buying the best you can afford. And beware of cars with electrical gremlins.
1979 VW Super Beetle Convertible
Sold at $42,900
S/N 1592039322
Light blue with white soft-top over black vinyl interior. 48-hp, 1.6-liter flat-4; four-speed manual transmission. Original condition; reported to have a little more than 600 actual miles. The exterior paint is unmarked; all the brightwork is great. However, a 35-year-old soft-top has a little bit of history no matter how good it looks. Some bagginess in the driver’s seat bolster, but other than that, the interior is as-new.
The original Beetle was last imported to the U.S. in 1979, and more than a handful were put away with very few miles on them. Beetle production continued internationally, notably in Mexico, where the last example was built in 2003. Probably not your last chance to buy an almost-new U.S.-delivery Beetle, but there can’t be all that many new ones left. Both the buyer and the seller
got a good deal here.
1972 Puma GT Coupe
Sold at $19,250
S/N SP1431404
Orange over black vinyl interior. 1.6-liter flat-4; four-speed manual transmission. Very good paint and good-to-excellent chrome and trim. Very nice seats appear recently reupholstered. Nice dash and console. Overall, a pleasing presentation.
These Brazilian-built, VW-based Pumas do show up occasionally at auctions, but most have a distinctive kit-car feel to them. This one is finished to a higher level of quality and attracted lots of bidder attention. In fact, this car sold for well above its high estimate of $15,000. If you think about it, it’s not a surprise; there are not a whole lot of distinctive sporting cars of this era available for less, including those with VW power. As they say, a rising tide raises all ships. The buyer will likely have the only Puma GT at his local Cars and Coffee on Saturday mornings. Not so with Porsche 911s.
1971 Buick Skylark GS 455 Convertible
Sold at $35,750
S/N 434671H204676
Cortez Gold with white vinyl top over Pearl White vinyl interior. 315-hp, 455-cubic-inch V-8; three-speed automatic. Equipped with factory air-conditioning, AM radio, power steering, and power brakes. Frame-off restoration completed in 2015. Excellent paint; very good chrome. The interior is a real standout; the white vinyl against black dash and carpets are pure ’70s style. When you add the GS 455 convertibles, the Stage 1, and the GS 350s together, fewer than 900 were built for 1971. A very nice car.
File this one under “lots of car for the money.” For the price of a well-optioned Camry, the buyer got a usable, classic American muscle car with a bit of rarity. You have to wonder if this car would have brought more money in a different color or with bucket seats instead of a front bench. A massive 1970s convertible at a massively good price.
1993 Jaguar XJS Convertible
Sold at $35,750
S/N SAJNW4741PC186484
Signal Red with tan soft-top over tan leather interior. 220-hp, 4.0-liter I-6; four-speed automatic transmission. 4,040 miles reported. Not perfect but an extremely nice example with very good paint, chrome, trim, and glass. The interior shows only light evidence of wear and some age. Clean underhood. Looks just like its low miles indicate: almost new.
The list price on this particular car when brand new was $57,700, including options, and it was sold to its first owner in Florida. There’s been a lot of talk recently about the XJS moving into the collector car market. Well, guess what? That movement has already happened, and this is a full-on collectible piece. But let’s not get nuts; most examples of the XJS have been used as a daily driver and maintained cheaply. This exceptional XJS brought an exceptional price. Your beater Jag with 125K miles is still worth $5,000.
1991 BMW 850i Coupe
Sold at $28,050
S/N WBAEG2312MCB73055
Red over black leather interior. 296-hp, 5.0-liter V-12; four-speed automatic transmission. 25,510 miles on the odometer. Very good paint, but some scratching and aging are evident. The trim shows some wear, but overall it’s still nice. The black leather interior shows well, with some normal sag in the driver’s seat. Clean engine compartment but not detailed. A collector car with a used-car presentation.
When the 8 Series was new, it was BMW’s flagship sports coupe and had styling that would stop traffic. You couldn’t walk into a showroom and buy one; each had to be special-ordered. Especially in the U.S., where off-the-rack car shopping is the norm, the 8 Series reeked of exclusivity. Today, the 8 Series gets hated on because it is a wildly complicated car with a design some see as dated. Despite that, the 12-cylinder 850i, especially with three pedals, is becoming sought by collectors looking for the next big thing.
Including a 2010 Spyker C8 Spyder sold at $220,000
By: Dave Kinney | Photography by: Auctions America May 20, 2016
F
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
April 1-3, 2016
Feature Car: 2010 Spyker C8 Spyder
Sold at $220,000
S/N XL9AABAG4AZ363219
Dark Sapphire Blue over blue leather interior. 4.2-liter, 400-hp V-8; six-speed manual transmission. As new throughout, no visible wear and excellent paint. The interior, which is a pleasing mix of leather and engine-turned alloys, is unmarked.
The Story Behind the Sale
Spyker is a Dutch-based auto company founded by Victor Muller that has brand connection to the Spyker aircraft, coachbuilding, and car manufacturer that was in business from 1880 to 1925. It celebrates its heritage with its logo, which features the image of an airplane propeller and rotary engine. You might remember that Spyker purchased Saab from General Motors in 2010—a move that bankrupted Saab a year later and brought Spyker to bankruptcy several years after that. Saab was ultimately sold to a Chinese consortium, and Spyker has been able to extricate itself from its financial morass and move toward building vehicles again.
Before all that, Spyker built several models of sports cars, the brand’s trademark being aviation-inspired designs and highly stylized details, similar to rival supercar builder Pagani. This car, a C8 Spyder, was built in 2010 and is one of the brand’s better-known models, but it’s still a rare bird.
All the boutique supercar tricks are present, with scissor-style doors, a clamshell-design hood, and plenty of diamond-quilted leather inside. A V-8 built by Audi is mounted amidships and is mated to a six-speed Getrag gearbox. Top speed is a claimed 186 mph, but only the brave are likely to attempt such a feat in such a small-volume car.
With all this convoluted company history, it is important to keep in mind that specialty and boutique sports car companies have often struggled in the marketplace. If you are the type who thinks owning a Ferrari or Lamborghini is following the crowd, this Spyker certainly offered exclusivity at a “reasonable” price.
1973 Jaguar E-type Series III V-12 Roadster
Sold at $70,950
S/N UD1S21517
Silver Metallic over black leather interior. 272-hp, 5.3-liter V-12; four-speed manual transmission. Reported to be a “100 percent original survivor.” 14,708 miles on the odometer. Faded paint with more than a few small dings and discoloration points, good chrome and trim, but nowhere near perfect. Original interior. A great period piece.
If you are into survivors, this is one of the best. It is still sitting on its original Dunlop tires from 1973, and you’d be foolish to take it out of first gear until you replaced them. Complete with the original window sticker, warranty cards, and owner’s manual. It’s rare to find one as untouched as this, and it would be a shame to turn it back into just another perfect concours car. This Jag has the three things Series III E-type owners are looking for: wire wheels, air-conditioning, and manual transmission. Sadly, probably better to display than use.
1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Sold at $41,800
S/N WP0EB0915KS170518
Velvet Red with brown canvas top over red leather seats. 214-hp, 3.2-liter flat-6; five-speed manual transmission. Decent paint said to be original. All trim appears to be good. This is not a show car but a well-kept driver. The interior shows some patina. From the last year of G-series 911 production.
What better way to remember the ’80s than with one of the cars that defined the era: a Porsche Carrera Cabriolet with a “whale tail” spoiler? This car is a later 3.2 Carrera with the G50 transmission, which many claim to be a better-shifting unit than the early 915 gearbox. Every 911 variant has seen a bump in price in the last two years, but the market has been leveling out in the last six months. Blame the sheer number of 911s available at any given time. Sold right in the sweet spot of values for this series. The 3.2 Carrera, with modern refinement and reliability, is also a real sweet spot in the broader 911 lineage.
Best Buy: 1993 Cadillac Allante Convertible
Sold at $5,610
S/N 1G6VS3396PU127174
White Diamond with black soft-top over maroon leather interior. 290-hp, 4.6-liter V-8; four-speed automatic transmission. Good paint with a few flaws. Some of the black trim is in need of reconditioning but certainly not a difficult fix. The interior shows some age and use wear but still looks nice. The engine compartment shows well. Cadillac Allantes in 1993 featured the Northstar 32-valve V-8 engine.
Still on the cusp between used cars and collector cars, the Allante is quickly moving from the former into the latter. When these cars were new, the Pininfarina-crafted and -designed bodies were flown on a customized 747 from Turin to Detroit for final assembly. Today, a good one costs about the same as a first-class ticket from L.A. to New York. As is so often the case, it’s worth buying the best you can afford. And beware of cars with electrical gremlins.
1979 VW Super Beetle Convertible
Sold at $42,900
S/N 1592039322
Light blue with white soft-top over black vinyl interior. 48-hp, 1.6-liter flat-4; four-speed manual transmission. Original condition; reported to have a little more than 600 actual miles. The exterior paint is unmarked; all the brightwork is great. However, a 35-year-old soft-top has a little bit of history no matter how good it looks. Some bagginess in the driver’s seat bolster, but other than that, the interior is as-new.
The original Beetle was last imported to the U.S. in 1979, and more than a handful were put away with very few miles on them. Beetle production continued internationally, notably in Mexico, where the last example was built in 2003. Probably not your last chance to buy an almost-new U.S.-delivery Beetle, but there can’t be all that many new ones left. Both the buyer and the seller
got a good deal here.
1972 Puma GT Coupe
Sold at $19,250
S/N SP1431404
Orange over black vinyl interior. 1.6-liter flat-4; four-speed manual transmission. Very good paint and good-to-excellent chrome and trim. Very nice seats appear recently reupholstered. Nice dash and console. Overall, a pleasing presentation.
These Brazilian-built, VW-based Pumas do show up occasionally at auctions, but most have a distinctive kit-car feel to them. This one is finished to a higher level of quality and attracted lots of bidder attention. In fact, this car sold for well above its high estimate of $15,000. If you think about it, it’s not a surprise; there are not a whole lot of distinctive sporting cars of this era available for less, including those with VW power. As they say, a rising tide raises all ships. The buyer will likely have the only Puma GT at his local Cars and Coffee on Saturday mornings. Not so with Porsche 911s.
1971 Buick Skylark GS 455 Convertible
Sold at $35,750
S/N 434671H204676
Cortez Gold with white vinyl top over Pearl White vinyl interior. 315-hp, 455-cubic-inch V-8; three-speed automatic. Equipped with factory air-conditioning, AM radio, power steering, and power brakes. Frame-off restoration completed in 2015. Excellent paint; very good chrome. The interior is a real standout; the white vinyl against black dash and carpets are pure ’70s style. When you add the GS 455 convertibles, the Stage 1, and the GS 350s together, fewer than 900 were built for 1971. A very nice car.
File this one under “lots of car for the money.” For the price of a well-optioned Camry, the buyer got a usable, classic American muscle car with a bit of rarity. You have to wonder if this car would have brought more money in a different color or with bucket seats instead of a front bench. A massive 1970s convertible at a massively good price.
1993 Jaguar XJS Convertible
Sold at $35,750
S/N SAJNW4741PC186484
Signal Red with tan soft-top over tan leather interior. 220-hp, 4.0-liter I-6; four-speed automatic transmission. 4,040 miles reported. Not perfect but an extremely nice example with very good paint, chrome, trim, and glass. The interior shows only light evidence of wear and some age. Clean underhood. Looks just like its low miles indicate: almost new.
The list price on this particular car when brand new was $57,700, including options, and it was sold to its first owner in Florida. There’s been a lot of talk recently about the XJS moving into the collector car market. Well, guess what? That movement has already happened, and this is a full-on collectible piece. But let’s not get nuts; most examples of the XJS have been used as a daily driver and maintained cheaply. This exceptional XJS brought an exceptional price. Your beater Jag with 125K miles is still worth $5,000.
1991 BMW 850i Coupe
Sold at $28,050
S/N WBAEG2312MCB73055
Red over black leather interior. 296-hp, 5.0-liter V-12; four-speed automatic transmission. 25,510 miles on the odometer. Very good paint, but some scratching and aging are evident. The trim shows some wear, but overall it’s still nice. The black leather interior shows well, with some normal sag in the driver’s seat. Clean engine compartment but not detailed. A collector car with a used-car presentation.
When the 8 Series was new, it was BMW’s flagship sports coupe and had styling that would stop traffic. You couldn’t walk into a showroom and buy one; each had to be special-ordered. Especially in the U.S., where off-the-rack car shopping is the norm, the 8 Series reeked of exclusivity. Today, the 8 Series gets hated on because it is a wildly complicated car with a design some see as dated. Despite that, the 12-cylinder 850i, especially with three pedals, is becoming sought by collectors looking for the next big thing.
Last edited by BeachBumMike; 05-20-2016 at 09:57 AM.
#2
05-20-2016, 10:20 AM
Do you like this one ? It's a Coupe (LOL)
2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe First Drive Review
Benz’s latest C Coupe makes itself at home with the hipsters in Maine
By: Abigail Bassett | Photography by: The ManufacturerMay 19, 2016
Framed against this flannel and gluten-free, potato-flour-donut backdrop, the C300 Coupe fits right in. It’s a car aimed at hip up-and-comers-sans-kids, with available all-wheel drive for when the snow starts dumping. It’s a looker, too. Four inches longer and two inches wider than its predecessor, the C300 sports a lean and agile appearance from the side, thanks in part to a single shoulder line that stretches from stem to stern. And all that time at the yoga studio has transformed the previous model’s angular, droopy-drawered rear end, giving the new car what Mercedes-Benz product planner Heiko Schmidt calls “a great ***.”
At the front, the 2017 C300 Coupe gets a 2.5-inch stretch from firewall to front axle, with Benz’s single-louver, diamond radiator grille as the highlight attraction. Though the doors aren’t frameless (due in part to what Mercedes calls “launch constraints”), a bit of a letdown for a car of this nature, they don’t materially detract from the long, lean silhouette. Taken together, it’s a lower, meaner, and more attractive exterior, with standard 18-inch rolling stock (19-inchers are optional) rounding out the package.
Inside, the C300 Coupe gets the full-on baby S-Class treatment. A new cabin layout reminiscent of its well-received C-Class sedan sibling moves the gear selector to the steering column and replaces it in the center console with Benz’s new-generation COMAND controller and touchpad. Step up to the $4,800 Premium 2 package, and you get the new 8.4-inch navi/infotainment screen that graces the center of the dash. Word to the wise, though: Once underway you’re locked out of certain functions—even if your passenger is doing the toggling.
Its sport-oriented seats are designed specifically for the car and hug both passenger and driver comfortably. A new, standard automatic seat-belt butler glides forward after you climb in and close the door. With the added length and width outside comes more space inside—at least for front passengers. Shoulder room, head room, and hip room are all improved and fully adjustable, no matter if your driving partner is 6-foot-plus or 5-foot-minus. The C300’s standard sliding panoramic sunroof offers up an airy feeling when open and adjusts itself based on vehicle speed in an effort to keep the noise in the cabin to a minimum. It also automatically adapts to rainy conditions when necessary. There are two rear seats, though they’re all but unusable by a normal-size adult. Think of them as really nice package shelves with seat belts, if you will.
With the launch of the new C300 Coupe also comes a suite of new appearance options, including a selection of gorgeous open-pore woods. There’s also the more garish and pricey Mercedes Designo red leather package, if you’re into that, and a new brilliant blue exterior color.
So it looks good, and it’s much improved inside. What’s under the hood? A 2.0-liter turbocharged four-banger with 241 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque, mated to Benz’s ubiquitous seven-speed automatic transmission. It feels more than capable and delivers more torque at lower revs than the outgoing car’s naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6, thanks in large part to the boost from the turbo. If that’s not enough power for you, fear not, fair buyer, Mercedes will offer up two AMG variants of the C Coupe shortly—the C43 and the C63—both with higher output. Although the base, rear-wheel-drive 2017 C300 Coupe isn’t exactly svelte at 3,638 pounds, Mercedes says it will do 0-to-60 in 5.9 seconds and onto an electronically limited top speed of 130 mph.
If we have one quibble with the turbo-four, it’s the sound, or lack thereof. It doesn’t have that same growl as the six-cylinder, regardless of the exhaust note setting. Speaking of sound, at times during our drive we noticed that the car would send more road noise into the cabin than engine noise. The all-weather tires our test cars wore were probably partly to blame though.
Over the undulations, bumps, and gyrations of the winding back roads of Maine and New Hampshire, the suspension in the 2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe communicates to its cabin occupants in a surprisingly stout way. A new four-link front axle decoupled from the spring struts gives the C300 Coupe good lateral grip and stability, while a five-link independent rear keeps the car planted in a straight line.
In models equipped with the optional Airmatic suspension, with its electronically controlled, fully adjustable damping, the driver can select just how much communication they want from the road. Toggle the Dynamic Select switch next to the COMAND controller from Eco to Comfort and the ride stiffens barely a hair and feels somewhat sedate, if not mushy, in corners. Put it into Sport or Sport+ mode and you’ll certainly feel the ancient ice heaves, but it won’t be enough to dislodge your soy, half-caff latte from its cupholder. The standard steel suspension feels like the sweet spot for the C300 Coupe, however. It does the job without the weird, disconnected, electronic sense you get from the cushier, more expensive air-spring setup.
Like the weather in Maine, the car’s character is mutable in both variations with the flip of the Dynamic Select switch. The driver can adjust the C300 Coupe a variety of ways. In each mode, the steering feel, (Airmatic) suspension, gearing, engine sound, auto start-stop—even climate control, defroster, and seat heaters—are adjusted to set levels. In Eco, the C300 Coupe is almost Prius-like, stopping and starting, cutting the throttle to conserve gas, and offering up a sedate engine sound and ride quality. Sport+ offers a much more raucous experience best suited for smooth roads, without cops. Individual mode is the magic elixir. Here you can set the car up exactly as you like it. Set suspension to Comfort and everything else to Sport+ and the C300 Coupe feels direct and responsive while remaining compliant and comfortable for passengers—even on the far-from-perfect roads around Maine’s White Mountain.
Mercedes offers the C300 Coupe in standard rear-wheel drive and optional 4Matic all-wheel drive, with Benz expecting a take rate of around 40 percent for the 4Matic model—primarily in snowbelt states. We weren’t treated to a freak late-spring snowstorm on the test drive, so we didn’t get much of a chance to experience the true differences between the 4Matic-equipped and the rear-drive cars on dry New England roads.
Mercedes also wants its target customers to feel as safe as they are comfortable from behind the wheel, so it’s included its Attention Assist system with adjustable sensitivity as standard equipment. The new C300 Coupe also comes standard with collision prevention and adaptive braking systems to help avoid crashes. The system can brake autonomously at speeds up to 124 mph or at speeds up to 31 mph when it comes upon stopped vehicles. Optionally, buyers can choose to add the fantastic Distronic Plus system of nearly autonomous driving aids, which is getting almost as good as having Jeeves drive you around.
The rear-drive C300 starts at $43,575 and the 4Matic at $45,575, but it’s quite easy to get the price up without breaking a sweat. Most of the cars we tested were close to fully loaded and hovered right around the mid-$50,000 mark or higher.
Surrounded by stone walls, lobster shacks, and rocky ocean vistas, the C300 Coupe seems right at home. It would be equally untroubled in the Bush clan’s driveway on the tony shores of Kennebunkport as it is in still-a-bit-gritty Portland, parked next to an artisanal coffee shop. Being a yuccie or a muppie or a hipster really isn’t that bad—as long as you’re in a sleek new coupe.
2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe Specifications
On Sale:NowPrice:$43,575/$45,575 (RWD/AWD) (base)Engine:2.0L turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4/ 241 hp @ 5,500 rpm, 273 lb-ft @ 1,300-4,000 rpmTransmission:7-speed automaticLayout:2-door, 4-passenger, front-engine RWD/AWD coupeEPA Mileage:23/29-30 mpg (city/hwy)L x W x H:184.5 x 71.3 x 55.3 inWheelbase:111.8 inWeight:3,638/3,770 lb (RWD/AWD)0-60 MPH:5.9 sec (est)Top Speed:130 mph
Benz’s latest C Coupe makes itself at home with the hipsters in Maine
By: Abigail Bassett | Photography by: The ManufacturerMay 19, 2016
T
The hipsters are dead. Long live the hipsters … or the yuccies. Or whatever you want to call them. Portland, Maine, is a city that’s grown more in the past 10 years than it has in the last 50. Though still peppered with lobstermen spewing salty language who ply their trade in Casco Bay, they now rub elbows with yoga-panted, microbrew-swilling transplants and the old money set. It’s also a perfect place to show off the 2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe.Framed against this flannel and gluten-free, potato-flour-donut backdrop, the C300 Coupe fits right in. It’s a car aimed at hip up-and-comers-sans-kids, with available all-wheel drive for when the snow starts dumping. It’s a looker, too. Four inches longer and two inches wider than its predecessor, the C300 sports a lean and agile appearance from the side, thanks in part to a single shoulder line that stretches from stem to stern. And all that time at the yoga studio has transformed the previous model’s angular, droopy-drawered rear end, giving the new car what Mercedes-Benz product planner Heiko Schmidt calls “a great ***.”
At the front, the 2017 C300 Coupe gets a 2.5-inch stretch from firewall to front axle, with Benz’s single-louver, diamond radiator grille as the highlight attraction. Though the doors aren’t frameless (due in part to what Mercedes calls “launch constraints”), a bit of a letdown for a car of this nature, they don’t materially detract from the long, lean silhouette. Taken together, it’s a lower, meaner, and more attractive exterior, with standard 18-inch rolling stock (19-inchers are optional) rounding out the package.
Inside, the C300 Coupe gets the full-on baby S-Class treatment. A new cabin layout reminiscent of its well-received C-Class sedan sibling moves the gear selector to the steering column and replaces it in the center console with Benz’s new-generation COMAND controller and touchpad. Step up to the $4,800 Premium 2 package, and you get the new 8.4-inch navi/infotainment screen that graces the center of the dash. Word to the wise, though: Once underway you’re locked out of certain functions—even if your passenger is doing the toggling.
Its sport-oriented seats are designed specifically for the car and hug both passenger and driver comfortably. A new, standard automatic seat-belt butler glides forward after you climb in and close the door. With the added length and width outside comes more space inside—at least for front passengers. Shoulder room, head room, and hip room are all improved and fully adjustable, no matter if your driving partner is 6-foot-plus or 5-foot-minus. The C300’s standard sliding panoramic sunroof offers up an airy feeling when open and adjusts itself based on vehicle speed in an effort to keep the noise in the cabin to a minimum. It also automatically adapts to rainy conditions when necessary. There are two rear seats, though they’re all but unusable by a normal-size adult. Think of them as really nice package shelves with seat belts, if you will.
With the launch of the new C300 Coupe also comes a suite of new appearance options, including a selection of gorgeous open-pore woods. There’s also the more garish and pricey Mercedes Designo red leather package, if you’re into that, and a new brilliant blue exterior color.
So it looks good, and it’s much improved inside. What’s under the hood? A 2.0-liter turbocharged four-banger with 241 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque, mated to Benz’s ubiquitous seven-speed automatic transmission. It feels more than capable and delivers more torque at lower revs than the outgoing car’s naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6, thanks in large part to the boost from the turbo. If that’s not enough power for you, fear not, fair buyer, Mercedes will offer up two AMG variants of the C Coupe shortly—the C43 and the C63—both with higher output. Although the base, rear-wheel-drive 2017 C300 Coupe isn’t exactly svelte at 3,638 pounds, Mercedes says it will do 0-to-60 in 5.9 seconds and onto an electronically limited top speed of 130 mph.
If we have one quibble with the turbo-four, it’s the sound, or lack thereof. It doesn’t have that same growl as the six-cylinder, regardless of the exhaust note setting. Speaking of sound, at times during our drive we noticed that the car would send more road noise into the cabin than engine noise. The all-weather tires our test cars wore were probably partly to blame though.
Over the undulations, bumps, and gyrations of the winding back roads of Maine and New Hampshire, the suspension in the 2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe communicates to its cabin occupants in a surprisingly stout way. A new four-link front axle decoupled from the spring struts gives the C300 Coupe good lateral grip and stability, while a five-link independent rear keeps the car planted in a straight line.
In models equipped with the optional Airmatic suspension, with its electronically controlled, fully adjustable damping, the driver can select just how much communication they want from the road. Toggle the Dynamic Select switch next to the COMAND controller from Eco to Comfort and the ride stiffens barely a hair and feels somewhat sedate, if not mushy, in corners. Put it into Sport or Sport+ mode and you’ll certainly feel the ancient ice heaves, but it won’t be enough to dislodge your soy, half-caff latte from its cupholder. The standard steel suspension feels like the sweet spot for the C300 Coupe, however. It does the job without the weird, disconnected, electronic sense you get from the cushier, more expensive air-spring setup.
Like the weather in Maine, the car’s character is mutable in both variations with the flip of the Dynamic Select switch. The driver can adjust the C300 Coupe a variety of ways. In each mode, the steering feel, (Airmatic) suspension, gearing, engine sound, auto start-stop—even climate control, defroster, and seat heaters—are adjusted to set levels. In Eco, the C300 Coupe is almost Prius-like, stopping and starting, cutting the throttle to conserve gas, and offering up a sedate engine sound and ride quality. Sport+ offers a much more raucous experience best suited for smooth roads, without cops. Individual mode is the magic elixir. Here you can set the car up exactly as you like it. Set suspension to Comfort and everything else to Sport+ and the C300 Coupe feels direct and responsive while remaining compliant and comfortable for passengers—even on the far-from-perfect roads around Maine’s White Mountain.
Mercedes offers the C300 Coupe in standard rear-wheel drive and optional 4Matic all-wheel drive, with Benz expecting a take rate of around 40 percent for the 4Matic model—primarily in snowbelt states. We weren’t treated to a freak late-spring snowstorm on the test drive, so we didn’t get much of a chance to experience the true differences between the 4Matic-equipped and the rear-drive cars on dry New England roads.
Mercedes also wants its target customers to feel as safe as they are comfortable from behind the wheel, so it’s included its Attention Assist system with adjustable sensitivity as standard equipment. The new C300 Coupe also comes standard with collision prevention and adaptive braking systems to help avoid crashes. The system can brake autonomously at speeds up to 124 mph or at speeds up to 31 mph when it comes upon stopped vehicles. Optionally, buyers can choose to add the fantastic Distronic Plus system of nearly autonomous driving aids, which is getting almost as good as having Jeeves drive you around.
The rear-drive C300 starts at $43,575 and the 4Matic at $45,575, but it’s quite easy to get the price up without breaking a sweat. Most of the cars we tested were close to fully loaded and hovered right around the mid-$50,000 mark or higher.
Surrounded by stone walls, lobster shacks, and rocky ocean vistas, the C300 Coupe seems right at home. It would be equally untroubled in the Bush clan’s driveway on the tony shores of Kennebunkport as it is in still-a-bit-gritty Portland, parked next to an artisanal coffee shop. Being a yuccie or a muppie or a hipster really isn’t that bad—as long as you’re in a sleek new coupe.
2017 Mercedes-Benz C300 Coupe Specifications
On Sale:NowPrice:$43,575/$45,575 (RWD/AWD) (base)Engine:2.0L turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4/ 241 hp @ 5,500 rpm, 273 lb-ft @ 1,300-4,000 rpmTransmission:7-speed automaticLayout:2-door, 4-passenger, front-engine RWD/AWD coupeEPA Mileage:23/29-30 mpg (city/hwy)L x W x H:184.5 x 71.3 x 55.3 inWheelbase:111.8 inWeight:3,638/3,770 lb (RWD/AWD)0-60 MPH:5.9 sec (est)Top Speed:130 mph
Last edited by BeachBumMike; 05-20-2016 at 10:22 AM.