In 1976, Nikki Lauda suffered a horrible crash on the Nordschleife and since then, the racetrack was declared too dangerous for Formula 1 racing. Still, in 2007 Nick Heidfeld had the courage to take a BMW Sauber on the track for a few laps. Now, after six years Michael Schumacher will do the same.
On the 19th of May, just before the start of the 24-hour race around Nürburgring, Schumacher will post a demonstration lap in a Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W02. This is the way the seven-time F1 driver’s champ will say "thank you" to his fans for their years of loyal support during his F1 career.
In July 2011, Schumacher covered part of the Nordschleife while driving a Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow Stromlinie W196. If the name of the car sounds familiar to you, it’s because it was the one that brought Mercedes two world titles during the 1954 and the 1955 season. The car was driven by Juan Manuel Fangio, who achieved eight wins in all.
Click past the jump to read more about the W196.
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The 2013 C63 AMG Black Series Coupe is no doubt our favorite of the entire C-Class lineup. We find it just perfect from the factory and we most updates just ruin its factory beauty. However, the folks over ADV.1 Wheels have found a solution to improve its look even further, proving us wrong.
The tuner installed a set of wheels painted in no ordinary silver or gunmetal. Instead, it opted for a brushed-aluminum finish that uses a special red transparent tint that completely makes the car scream: "look at me!" The new wheels are sized 20-by-10 inches up front and 20-by-11 inches on the rear and come in a monoblock design.
And, since no package can be completed until some body updates are also offered, ADV.1 teamed with Mode Carbon and fiveninedesign. This partnership added to the car a new boot-lid spoiler and new side mirrors.
This caps off this minimalist upgrade that offers up just enough custom work to make the C63 AMG Black series look even better.
Click past the jump to read more about the standard Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series.
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The Mercedes E-Class isn’t exactly an aftermarket favorite, but that doesn’t mean that any program built for it isn’t worth mentioning.
Prior Design has built many programs over the years and it’s done pretty well on a lot of them. But if you needed any more proof of Prior Design’s capabilities, look no further than what it did for the E-Class Coupe.
We’ve always had a fascination for matte paintwork on a car and while most of them have featured matte black, this matte-brown look Prior Design gave the E-Class Coupe just exudes star quality.
On top of that, Prior Design developed a pretty aggressive body kit with pieces made entirely out of Dura Flex fiber-reinforced plastic. The components aren’t flashy but they do have a look of sportiness that adds to the aggressive look of the E-Class Coupe.
And the best part is that you only need to shell out €8,000 ($10,460) for the PD850 body kit. It’s a reasonable price for a kit like this, especially if you already have an E-Class Coupe that’s just waiting to be treated to some Prior Design lovin’.
Click past the jump to read more about Prior Design’s PD850 kit for the Mercedes E-Class Coupe
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The revised version of the current-generation Mercedes S-Class has been caught testing many times, including extreme cold-weather conditions. However, the prototype caught today by our spy photographers gives us the best look at the new S-Class to date, as it is almost completely void of all camouflage and our photographers got up close and personal with the car.
The 2014 S-Class will borrow design elements from the F800 Style Concept, making it sharper and a little bit more aggressive. Also, we expect to see the same one-piece headlamps with LED daytime running lights we have seen in the new E-Class.
Under the hood, Mercedes will likely place a revised version of the current engine lineup, which includes a Twin-turbocharged, 4.7-liter V-8 engine with 429 horsepower; a 510-horsepower twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-12; and an AMG twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8 delivering somewhere between 536 and 550 horsepower.
Hit the jump to read more about the 2014 Mercedes S-Class.
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The current Mercedes SLS line-up is quickly filling up with a Coupe, a Roadster, a GT3 version, and, sometime in the near future, an E-Cell version. However, Mercedes isn’t done yet. As promised yesterday the fifth model in the line-up has been officially announced today: the SLS AMG Black Series.
The new SLS Black Series has borrowed some of the styling cues seen first on the GT3 version and of course combines them with some of the usual Black Series design elements. But first Mercedes worked on reducing the car’s total weight: they added lots of carbon fiber elements, a new titanium-made exhaust system, new wheels and some lightweight sports seats. As a result the new Black Series is about 154 lbs lighter than the current model.
When you add an improved engine under the hood: a 622 HP V8 engine, you will easily notice that the car’s performance numbers have also improved: the 0 to 60 mph sprint time drops 0.2 seconds and top speed is now 195 mph.
Updated 04/23/2012: Mercedes AMG has unveiled a new video on the SLS AMG Black Series. The supercar has been shown in action at the Le Castellet Race Track. Enjoy!
Hit the jump to read more about the new Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series.
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This weekend at the 2013 Auto Shanghai motor show, Mercedes unveiled the GLA Concept - the initial preview for the company’s fifth SUV. The production version of the GLA-Class will arrive sometime in 2015 and will be the smallest SUV offered by Mercedes.
The production version GLA-Class will be built on the same front-wheel-drive architecture that features transversely mounted engines, just like the new-generation A-Class and B-Class. From the A-Class, the future SUV will also borrow the engine lineup, including the most powerful one offered in the AMG version.
The concept version unveiled in Shanghai features a futuristic design language, but for the production version Mercedes will adopt a more conventional look, pretty much similar to what we have seen in the A-Class. To help give you an idea of what the production GLA-Class will look like, we have created a rendering, which you can see above.
Hit the jump to read more about the production version Mercedes GLA-Class.
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It is not a secret anymore that the Chinese market is clamoring for longer versions of the models sold in markets like the U.S. or Europe. So, it should be no surprise to anyone that Mercedes has unveiled a long-wheelbase version of the new E-Class at Auto China 2013 in Shanghai.
The model measures 5,019 mm (197.59 inches) in length so it offers an extra 140 mm (5.51 inches) legroom in the rear. Also, as a first for the model, the new E-Class Long offers two different front ends. The standard version features the classic, three-dimensional saloon radiator grille in three-louver look, while the Sport Sedan version comes with the sporty front end featuring a centrally positioned star.
Chinese customers can choose between two variants — luxurious Sedan and the Sport Sedan — and three trim levels — E 260 L, E 300 L and E 400 L.
Hit the jump to read more about the new Mercedes E-Class Long.
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The 2013 Mercedes CLS 63 AMG is a model that really doesn’t need any upgrades, but American tuner, Renntech, decided it would boost the luxury sedan’s image regardless. While these upgrades make the CLS 63 AMG looking better than ever it has one big disadvantage: its relatively high $9,500 price tag.
The entire kit was designed and prototyped in-house and is constructed of the highest-quality pre-preg carbon fiber that ensures years durability. If you were expecting something big, you will be disappointed, as Renntech kept the updates to a minimum by only offering a front splitter, rear diffuser and rear lip spoiler.
Usually, Renntech offers up some form of an engine update to go along with the updated aesthetics, but this time it decided to skip them. After all, the CLS 63 AMG’s 5.5-liter biturbo V-8 engine that delivers a total of 518 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, or 550 horsepower and 590 pound-feet when you add the AMG Performance Package, is plenty powerful.
Click past the jump to get a closer look at the kit
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The Mercedes G-Class has had a very long history in the automotive industry. Currently the model comes in four versions: G, GL, ML and GLK. Starting 2014, however, a fifth version will be added to the lineup. Called the GLA, the new model will be an SUV coupe.
The Mercedes GLA will be built on the same front-wheel-drive architecture that features transversely mounted engines, as found in the next A and B-Classes. The production version of the GLA will also borrow lots of its design elements from the same A-Class that inspired it, but of course with an increased ride height.
Updated 04/18/2013: After the first images surfaced on the Internet the other day, Mercedes dropped the official details on the new GLA Concept set to be unveiled at the 2013 Auto Shanghai motor show on April 21st.
Hit the jump to read more about the new Mercedes GLA.
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Mercedes’ two-door luxury car, the CL-Class is all sorts of awesome. It’s got serious credentials as a luxury coupe that very few in its class can come close to matching.
That’s precisely why it’s garnered so much love from Mercedes customers over the years. But what happens when you have an aftermarket company that’s willing to put in the time to ensure that the CL-Class’ appeal goes up a few more notches?
Famous Parts’ Matte Black edition happens.
The aftermarket company took up the task of building a new aero kit for the CL 500, giving the luxury coupe some new styling that adds to the aggressive look in a rather stealthy manner. It’s a pretty cool upgrade that really fits in well with the CL-Class’ 4.6-liter V-8 direct-injected engine that produces 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque while mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission. Put that all together and the CL-Class can hit 60 mph in just 4.9 seconds with an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.
Click past the jump to read more about what Famous Parts did to the CL-Class
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