Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake

 

Featured here is a somewhat obscure wagon version of the high-performance Mercedes-Benz CLS that was primarily offered in Europe but never officially sold in the US, the CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake. The Shooting Brake body style was introduced and added for only the second-generation CLS from 2013 to 2018, making it cooler and more practical than its sedan/four-door coupe counterpart. Powering this particular CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake is a 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 with 557 horsepower and 531 pound-feet of torque paired to a seven-speed automatic transmission. It launches from zero to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and tops out at an electronically-limited speed of 155 mph. Later model years of the CLS63 AMG Four-Door Coupe and Shooting Brake gained an optional performance pack, a facelift, and an S version that is faster, more powerful, and more refined. Besides the additional cargo space, the CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake's specs, standard equipment, and options are practically identical to those of its four-door coupe counterpart, except the Shooting Brake is a tad lower in ride height, a tad longer in overall length, and 33 pounds heavier. Despite its added practicality over its four-door coupe variant, the CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake contains about 14 less cubic feet of cargo space than an equivalent E-Class wagon. 

While the CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake was never officially sold in the United States, it was never particularly common in Europe or the few other markets it was available in. This specific example is the first CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake that I have ever seen in person, which occurred at at this year's Legends of the Autobahn Show during Monterey Car Week. It is outfitted in a unique livery with a flashing light bar on top due to it being CMS Motorsports' designated safety car for its CMS 1000 Benz Rally, which goes from Los Angeles to Monterey for Car Week every year. I was genuinely surprised to see a CLS63 Shooting Brake at Legends of the Autobahn, let alone on US soil. If I had to guess, it was likely imported here from overseas under the federal show-and-display exemption, but there's always a possibility that it was just a four-door coupe converted into a shooting brake. Besides the unique livery and flashing light bar, custom HRE wheels were added onto this CLS63 Shooting Brake as well. Overall, the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake is one of the most underrated forbidden fruits known to American car enthusiasts and one of the most underrated vehicles on display at Legends of the Autobahn this year. Stay tuned for more content from this year's Legends of the Autobahn show coming up in the next several posts. 

Vehicle Specifications Sources: Motor Trend, Car and Driver, CMS Motorsports  

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