The cybergarage has been abuzz for quite a while with rumours, renderings, sketches and spy-shots of a big two-door Mercedes-Benz, based on same underpinnings as the recently-launched S-Class sedan, and slated to replace the current C216 CL-Class in 2015.
But now it's official - even if it's just one sketch and a confirmation from Stuttgart that the S-Class Coupé Concept will be on the Mercedes-Benz pavilion at next week's Frankfurt motor show.
It would seem that the decision to name it the S-Class Coupé, rather than CL, is a recent one, since the camouflaged mules in the spy-shots are labelled as the C217, but we think it's logical, given that this chunky four-seater has nothing in common with the C-Class except the three-pointed star on the bonnet.
BENTLEY CONTINENTAL RIVAL
Sportier than its predecessor, it could even be pitched as a Bentley Continental rival and, if this attitudinous-looking sketch is accurate, it will also share very little sheet-metal with the new S-Class sedan - particularly its Avantgarde-style grille with bold centre star, as opposed to the traditional grille and 'gunsight' star of the sedan.
It will, however, probably share the 2014 sedan's engine line-up, so you can expect to see a 245kW twin-turbo three-litre V6 S400, a 335kW, twin-turbo 4.7-litre V8 S550 and a 437kW twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 S600 in the production models, which will premiere at either the Detroit motor show in January next year or, more likely, the Geneva salon in March.
And we'll be very surprised indeed if they're not followed before the end of 2014 by S63 and S65 sledgehammers from Affalterbach.
To quote Eliza Doolittle, wouldn’t that be luvverly?