Somehow [publicists], Autoweek.nl managed to get their hands on a zipfile full of leaked Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake images, and they totally published them! Meanwhile, full press release and specs are expected to be "gelekt" right in on schedule.
None of which matters in the US, of course, since I'm sure this nirvanawagen will not be coming to a country which thinks a shooting brake is what the NRA does between panel discussions.
And just to rub it in, DT Brakemeister DT helpfully spotted the ISOFIX/LATCH attachments in the rear seats. Which, I'm sure they're just some boring EU requirement by now, but they also mean you can't blunt the pain by pretending these aren't family cars.
UPDATE FROM THE COMMENTS jjdaddy-o added a link to a surprise or whatever appearance of a zebra camo-clad CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake at Goodwood. And of course, there's a link to MBZ's teaser for US Facebookers to register their desire for this hotness.
But now I wonder if it isn't possible to just get a registered importer to petition the DOT and EPA to allow a CLS wagon under the VSP designation, where non-US cars are deemed suitably similar to their US-market equivalents. Then let the dozen wagon freaks with $120,000 or whatever step up and buy their own.
Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake Gelekt [autoweek.nl via dt reader dt]
Or will it...? " We call it the CLS Shooting Brake, and it’s very much an all-new production car. It’s not bound for the US right now, but let us know if you’d like to see it here."
via https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.478156268879074.120839.112336898794348&type=1, which went public with photos as soon as the cat/bag thing happened.
Something from thetruthaboutcars.com from back in April:
"... a thought for wagon aficionados who want more import estates but blind their eyes to the fact that their E39 540i is the only one they’ve ever seen. The Acura TSX Wagon accounted for just 9.5% of all TSX sales in March and just 3.1% of all Acura sales. It was off last year’s pace with a 13% decline. TSX Wagon sales are down 7% this year even as sales of the TSX sedan are up 23%.
Sorry, but the numbers, though sometimes deceitful, don’t outright lie. And truths like this prevent North Americans from seeing the Audi A6 Avant, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class wagon, and even the Volvo V70."
... Not to mention the M-B CLS Shooting Brake and the Jaguar Sportbrake
... and I see this morning a note in Autocar that they have introduced the AMG CLS SB at Goodwood this week:
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/goodwood-festival-speed-2012/mercedes-cls-63-shooting-brake-teased-Goodwood
... but that's not the good part, the good part's the camouflage they used on the pre-production model, which I dub "Geflammt Feuer Zebra".
Looks like MB has a nice solution to the aversion the German luxury makers have to providing three seats across in the rear on certain cars with sporting intentions...they seem to believe you can feel sporty with your family of 4 but not with 5. Anyway, the blacked out upholstery masks that middle seat...although they could learn something from Subaru and make that middle seat shoulder belt disappear too.
Few cars, when parked on my block, make me stop to take a look. But for a few weeks there's been a CTS-V Wagon parked on West 85th street...