With the doors open at the Paris Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz has given everyone a sneak peek of the new E-Class front-end styling. No, not in the form of the new E-Class itself, which will be unveiled at a later date, but in the ConceptFASCINATION, a stunning shooting brake concept based on the upcoming E-Class Coupe’s architecture and featuring the new E’s front-end styling. Gone are the round headlamps we’ve become accustomed to. In their place are new “rhomboid” lamps that, on the show car at least, incorporate fiber-optic driving lights. The grille will likely be the same one seen on the new E Coupe, while we’d expect the sedan to have the traditional grille-and-hood-ornament combo instead. Power comes from Mercedes’ new 2.2L, 204-horsepower BlueTEC (with AdBlue) 4-cylinder diesel, which will make its production debut this fall in the Euro-market C250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Super Verbose Prime Edition sedan. The ConceptFASCINATION’s cargo area is covered in wood, and boasts such show-car goodies as a folding glass table that can be pulled rearward, a humidor, a chilled compartment (natch), and storage for binoculars and a camera. A pronounced rear fender arch lends some visual muscle to the whole affair. Hopefully, that’s also a hint at what the inevitable E-Class wagon’s rump is going to look like. As for the new front end, it’s a lot better looking here than spy shots have led everyone to believe. It is as if Mercedes has rediscovered its inner passion, and if the next E-Class shares these qualities with the ConceptFASCINATION, then other luxury sedan makers better start worrying.
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October 3, 2008Cabana One Pool Club and Lounge
