The renewal of Mercedes-AMG’s compact car line-up has continued with the arrival of the new CLA 45 4Matic Shooting Brake. The estate version of the A45 S 4Matic+ hyper hatch is available to order in the UK now, priced from £53,370 – a £3000 premium over the hatchback. Standard equipment, as with the hatch and coupé, includes 19in five-spoke alloys, keyless entry, heated front seats, a performance steering wheel and a pair of 10.25in screens. Range-topping Plus trim adds a downforce-enhancing aero package, multibeam LED headlights, forged alloy wheels and leather upholstery. The coupé-cum-estate is the third AMG model to get the company’s new 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol engine, after the recently revealed A45 4Matic hatchback and CLA 45 4Matic saloon. A development of the first-generation’s M133 unit, the new M139 2.0-litre turbo engine will be offered in two states of tune. The UK will only offer the more powerful iteration, the range-topping CLA 45 S 4Matic+ Shooting Brake. It develops 39bhp and 18lb ft more than its predecessor at a class-leading 415bhp and 369lb ft. As with the A45 4Matic and CLA 45 4Matic, drive is channelled through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, with shift paddles mounted on the steering wheel. A reconfigured Haldex-style multi-plate-clutch four-wheel-drive system features a Torque Control mechanism that uses two clutches to apportion power individually to each rear wheel. The changes to the four-wheel-drive system have allowed AMG to give the new model a Drift mode function. It’s accessed through a revised Dynamic Select system that offers up to six driving modes, including Slippery, Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Race. Mercedes-AMG claims a 0-62mph time of 4.1sec for the CLA 45 4Matic Shooting Brake and 4.0sec for the S version. The top speed is artificially limited to 155mph, although customers can choose to raise it to 168mph via an optional Driver’s Package. The CLA 45 4Matic Shooting Brake adopts the same stylistic changes as the new CLA 45 4Matic saloon. Included is an AMG-specific Panamericana-style grille with vertical slats, a more heavily structured front bumper and wider front wings housing a broader front track than that used by standard CLA models. At the rear, the new AMG model adopts a larger spoiler above its tailgate as well as a redesigned rear bumper that features an integral diffuser. With a tailgate opening that’s 236mm wider, at 871mm, and 10 litres more boot capacity, at 505 litres, the new CLA 45 4Matic Shooting Brake is claimed to have not only improved performance potential but also a boost in practicality over the model it
Origin: New Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 Shooting Brake available from £53,370
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Un-camouflaged new Land Rover Defender maybe spied shooting next ‘James Bond’
If the internet is good for anything, its for giving us sneak peeks at new cars long before they go on sale. The latest leak thats causing consternation at a PR office? The new and hotly-anticipated 2020 Land Rover Defender.Spied on the set of a new James Bond flick is what appears to be a completely undisguised copy of the upcoming British 44.It has a lantern jaw harkening back to Defenders of old, along with what is certainly chequerplate on the flanks of its hood. This latter detail is a great throwback to the Defender 90 and 110. View this post on Instagram I’m not going to get in trouble for this — because it’s all over #facebook at the moment! Here is what looks like the first uncovered #defender2020 — straight (apparently) from the film set of the new #bond movie! Makes sense! A few things come to mind. Firstly, the winch is excellent. Secondly, the alpine windows are still there! Thirdly, the rear passenger door looks massive — you’ll never open that in a Tesco car park! Fourthly, there seems to be quite a bit of wheel clearance (though it’s unknown if this is standard height, off road height, or on coils!). Fifthly, checker on the bonnet (yes, the bonnet is a funny shape and there is no real wing to speak of). Sixthly, I’m not sure about the mirrors at all. Seventhly. well, this could clearly go on a bit! #landroverdefender #allnewdefender #landroverdefender #landrover #thebest4x4xfar #landrovertheworldover #landroverworld #bignews #didntmakefrankfurt #someonesheadwillrollforthis #spyshot #spyfilm #jamesbondfilmset #allnewdefender2020 #newdefender #newdefendernews #newlandroverdefender #defender #landroverdefender #landroverdefender110 #defender110 #defender130 #defender90 #allnewdefender90 #allnewdefender110 #newdefender2020 #newdefender90 A post shared by Steven Firth (@shedlocktwothousand) on Aug 26, 2019 at 3:14pm PDTIts front fascia is understandably not as squared-off as the old Defender, thanks largely to pedestrian safety standards and the fact that automakers no longer design their cars to look like barn doors.Round headlights set into rectangular buckets are a nice touch but, at least from this angle, appear to have the top quarter of those lamps tucked out of sight. This gives it a sleepy appearance, as if it just consumed a dime bag. Perhaps other angles will be better. The windshield is fairly upright, as one would expect, and various rugged off-road design cues pepper the exterior. There is a huge wheelwell gap, suggesting this version might be equipped with an air suspension jacked to its highest setting. Or, it may simply have metal coils modified for movie use. Appropriately knobby tires are present and accounted for.With the world clamoring for SUVs of all types, its a sensible time for Land Rover to reintroduce this well-loved nameplate. Defender fans are, um, ardent (to put it mildly) so the design will surely be criticized no matter what the final production versions looks like. Three- and five-door variants are expected when it goes on sale for the 2020 model
Origin: Un-camouflaged new Land Rover Defender maybe spied shooting next ‘James Bond’
Mercedes-AMG’s CLA 45 Shooting Brake is as beautiful as it is not for Canada
Whenever an automaker reveals a vehicle in Europe that we want but won’t get here in North America, it almost feels like they’re teasing us intentionally. The latest car to make us jelly of our European cousins is this handsome hatch, the CLA 45 Shooting Brake, which Mercedes-AMG just pulled the covers off of. With its Panamericana grille and long, sweeping roofline, the five-doored CLA 45 and 45 S appear as a pure gift to wagon-lovers, but for Canadians, its another look but dont touch situation. Those European feet that are allowed to flatten the accelerator will feel the pull of the world’s most powerful turbocharged four-cylinder production engine, a modified version of that found in the CLA 45. Here it makes 387 horsepower (416 in the S model) and ushers the estate car up to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds (4.0 flat in the S).As is the AMG trend nowadays, there’s also a Drift Mode option that helps drivers get appropriately squirrel-ly. A sharply styled compact wagon with 416 horsepower and Drift Mode? Ugh! No thank you!Yeah, see, even writing that as a joke feels wrong. Pricing for the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 and 45 S has not yet been released yet. But we can’t buy it anyway, so who
Origin: Mercedes-AMG’s CLA 45 Shooting Brake is as beautiful as it is not for Canada
This Ferrari 612 Scaglietti shooting brake is a coachbuilt beauty
A Dutch company has built a completely stunning reimagination of a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti as a shooting brake, a design the Modena brand never produced in-house. The project was dreamt up by Robert Koumans of Vandenbrink Design, a Dutch company consisting of just a few coachbuilding masters, as well as Maurik van den Heuvel of Classic Youngtimers Consultancy. The design was first drawn up in 2008, but now they’re ready to build some for customers. The shooting brake style goes back to the golden age of street cars, with designers like Bertone, Drogo, Pininfarina, Touring Superleggera, Vignale and Zagato taking liberties with the original style of a vehicle to make it more usable for the rich folks that bought them to go fox hunting. Hence the name shooting brake—it was designed to hold your gun cases. A lot of shooting brake conversions end up going wrong, but this one seems to be quite nice. The subtle curve on the rear roof gives it a much more sporty look, as do the glass roof inserts above the rear passenger compartment. The interior is beautifully finished, as well as the exterior, and we assume that Vanderbrink will make it any colour you like. The 612 Scaglietti doesn’t receive much love, mostly due to its wonky face. However, turning something into a shooting brake immediately makes it look better. If you want one, you can actually buy one, if you have the cash. Vandenbrink Design is taking orders for the shooting brake, and they’ll be built on a purely custom-order
Origin: This Ferrari 612 Scaglietti shooting brake is a coachbuilt beauty
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