Fascinating Merc

After successfully combining a four-door sedan with a curvy coupe to create the top selling CLS, the development team at Mercedes-Benz has now rammed a wagon into the back of a two-door coupe.

The result is called the ConceptFASCINATION and it's an odds-on bet for a new place in the silver star family.

Officially, the radical new two-door is only a 'design study' but it will be under the spotlight at the Paris Motor Show in a fortnight and is likely to be in showrooms within three years.

Why? Because Benz can and because it should.

The ConceptFASCINATION — another morph — shows there is plenty of life in the old-fashioned British 'shooting brake', originally a luxury sedan modified with a station wagon tail so the upper classes could shoot small, feathered-and-furry creatures.

We've seen something similar with the Volvo C30, but the new Benz is much bigger and much more elegant.

It also comes at a time when Mercedes-Benz is about to change its name game — the next CLK will be called the E-Class coupe — in a move which clears the way for something new.

"The ConceptFASCINATION is a vehicle that's pretty much unique," says David McCarthy, the spokesman for Mercedes-Benz Australia.

"It is only a concept. But if it was to come to market it would be likely to sell very well.

"You only have to look at the CLS, which was totally new. Since its introduction we've sold over 150,000 worldwide."

The ConceptFASCINATION is about the same size as a CLK coupe, but sits much lower with a dramatic sweep from nose to tail.

Benz claims it is emotional, practical and elegant and the Paris Show car has a combination of wood, aluminium and smoked glass to give it an upmarket look. As well as a giant sunroof.

But don't expect the fridge or cigar humidor in the concept car to make it to showrooms.

Instead, the ConceptFASCINATION will combine a four-door coupe cabin with a truly useful luggage space beneath its upright rear hatch.

"Station wagons are huge in Europe. We are even seeing it here with the take-up on the C-Class wagon," says McCarthy.

"This concept is a vehicle that is similar to some vehicles in the past, not from us, that have definitely struck a chord with buyers. It's looking at the needs of a particular section of the market."

McCarthy says it will be ideal for the cashed-up 20-somethings who have also been fans of Benz's B-Class hatch.

"The B-Class has been very successful for us in Australia. This is different, of course, and is between C and E in size."

Full details will be revealed in Paris but Benz is already wittering about a load space that "develops organically from the exciting and elegant lines of this lifestyle coupe" as well as "elegance, savoir-vivre and exclusivity of the highest level".

The design includes a new take on the company's corporate 'face' including the sort of LED running lights which are now commonplace on prestige cars, as well as a tail with a forward sloping glasshouse.

But the emotion is obvious and Benz could easily have another winner, particularly as the ConceptionFASCINATION is already being touted for a full-scale AMG makeover if — when — it goes into production.