Mercedes-Benz's Detroit Show Sculpture Hints at Next Generation CLS Sports Sedan

Here's one veil that automotive journalists and Detroit motor show-goers alike won't be able to lift no matter how hard they try. See, what appears in these pictures to be a car gently draped in silver cloth is in fact a clay automotive sculpture. Its purpose? To offer us a glimpse of the future Mercedes-Benz design language.

"Creativity and inspiration are always the driving forces behind outstanding engineering achievements," said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

"With this work of art, we want to express the characteristic Mercedes-Benz design and, at the same time, convey an impression of our forthcoming new models."

Despite the fact that Mercedes-Benz avoided to say which exact car the sculpture with its blistered wheel arches and rounded tail hints at most, we assume that it gives away clues for the next-generation CLS four-door sports sedan.

Mercedes-Benz Debuts SLS AMG Desert Gold at Dubai Show

As the age old saying goes, when in Rome do as the Romans do. Not to stereotype, but you have to admit that the United Arab Emirates have had their fare share of gold-finished exotic supercars and as such, Mercedes-Benz decided to show off a special SLS AMG Gullwing with the designation "AMG Desert Gold" with a matt gold color at the bi-annual Dubai Motor Show that runs from December 15 to 20.

In addition to matt gold paintwork, all the decorative and mounted features like the Mercedes star at the front and the fins on the bonnet and flanks that are in shining chrome or Silver Shadow in the standard SLS AMG have been given a deep-black paint finish on the show car.

The same goes for the black-painted AMG light-alloy wheels in size 9.5 x 19 at the front and 11.0 x 20 at the rear that are embellished with a golden ring on the rim flange.

Mercedes chose to leave the interior of the 571HP gullwing-supercar intact, opting for black leather and carbon fiber trim.

The Stuttgart automaker noted that while the AMG Desert Gold treatment has been used only for the display vehicle at the Dubai show, if there's enough interest generated, the special gold paint finish could become available as an individual optional extra from the AMG PERFORMANCE STUDIO.

And if not, we're pretty sure that those SLS AMG owners that find the gold finish alluring will find a way to do it anyway...

Mercedes-Benz Concept BlueZERO E-CELL PLUS: Petrol-Electric Hybrid Hints at Production Model

Mercedes-Benz will be presenting an updated version of its BlueZERO E-Cell concept car at this month's Frankfurt Motor Show. Originally presented in Detroit at the beginning of the year, BlueZERO E-Cell is propelled exclusively by a battery-powered electric drive that allows the car to travel up to 200 km or 125 miles on a single battery charge. The Frankfurt Show-bound 'PLUS' ads a rear-mounted 67HP 1.0-liter turbocharged three-cylinder gasoline engine to the mix.

Sourced from the Smart Fortwo, the three cylinder engine is hooked up to a generator and is used exclusively to provide juice for the electric motor - just as in the case of the Chevy Volt. With this configuration, the car has a total range of up to 600 km (375 miles), of which up to 100 km (62 miles) can be covered solely on electricity.

The concept hatch is equipped with a high-performance, 18 kWh lithium-ion battery that can store enough power within around 30 minutes for a 50 km (31 miles) cruising range while the complete electric range of 100 km (62 miles) requires a charging time of a little more than an hour. Mercedes said that charging time with a standard charge cycle at a conventional household outlet with 3,3 kW is around 6 hours.

The BlueZERO E-CELL PLUS' electric motor that produces 100kW or 136 horsepower and a maximum torque of 320 Nm, drives the front wheels. According to 'das' Germans, the car can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) in less than eleven seconds while the vehicle's top speed is electronically limited to 150 km/h (93mph).

The 4.22-meter-long BlueZERO models are based on the sandwich-floor architecture known from the A-Class and B-Class. It is believed that the concept model will form the base for a production model in the very near future.

Iranian Car Designers Exhibit their Conceptual Proposals

Car designers from Iran? Why not, we ask? No one ever said that automotive designing is restricted to Italians, British, French, Americans, Koreans - you get the point. These conceptual proposals are the work of young Iranian graduates in Industrial and Transportation Design and they were displayed at an exhibition titled "From Dream to Reality" that took place from 18 to 23 April 2009 at the Kamal Aldin Behzad Gallery in Teheran, Iran. As with any exhibition of the sort, some projects were more interesting than others, but we'll let you judge for yourselves.

Images: Barkhordary , Via: Carbodydesign