2007 Mercedes-Benz CL600

Why buy a CL rather than an S-class? Style, mostly. Speaking of which, we love the CL's wide grille, elegant greenhouse, and characteristic B-pillarless hard top. We'll confess to being not so turned on by the new car's higher beltline and its rounded, stubby-looking rear. But notions of beauty are intensely personal--how else to explain the appeal of Angelina Jolie?--so at this point we'll assume that you're smitten with the looks and proceed from there.

Of course, the driver and the front-seat passenger get the truly deluxe accommodations. The front seats boast all kinds of features, from the useful (extending seat cushions, massage action) to the debatable (adjustable lateral bolsters) to the absurd (the dynamic function, which firms up lateral support on one side or the other in response to cornering forces but which is always a beat behind).

There are four CL models, which frankly strikes us as a lot. There's the standard, V-8-powered CL550; the CL600 with its 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-12; the AMG-tuned CL63 with a big-block V-8; and the CL65 AMG, also a V-12, also twin-turbocharged, but displacing 6.0 liters and making more than 600 hp. The CL550 and the CL600 are supposed to arrive as you read this, with the CL63 to follow in late spring and the CL65 due next fall.

The 5.5-liter V-8 under the CL550's expansive hood would hardly seem to be a slacker, and indeed, mated to Mercedes' seven-speed manu-matic, it moves the big coupe with all the urgency a reasonable person would require (0 to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds, according to its maker). But the CL isn't about meeting reasonable needs; it's about sating irrational desires. Which is why the rush of acceleration brought on by the CL600's mighty V-12, with its 612 lb-ft of torque, is not only so satisfying but also feels so right when you're behind the wheel entertaining Master of the Universe fantasies.

The V-12's prodigious torque output is too much for the seven-speed gearbox, forc- ing Mercedes to pair it with a mere five-speed, but that matters not a bit. Well, maybe it matters for gas mileage: The CL600 chugs a gallon of premium about every twelve miles in city driving and every nineteen on the highway. The CL550 checks in with a more abstemious 16/24 mpg (estimated), but true Masters of the Universe don't concern themselves with this stuff.

Both gearboxes offer the same instantly available manual shifts: just touch the buttons on the back of the steering-wheel spokes--there's no need to clumsily grasp for a manual mode first. On the other hand, we still find the dainty column stalk for selecting P, R, N, and D to be an unsatisfying solution.

Yes, we recognize that there are price differences among the three coupes we drove. Although exact figures weren't set at press time, the 550 should start at about $100,000, the CL63 at $120,000, and the 600 at $130,000 (with every option as standard). Those differences aren't inconsequential, but buyers at this level aren't exactly budgeting their car payments down to the nickel. With a more sumptuous, full-leather-and-Alcantara interior, all the toys, and loads more power, the 600 is the easy choice over the 550; perhaps surprisingly, it also wins out over the slower and not significantly sportier CL63. Until the new CL65 comes along, the CL600 is the best marriage of "big" and "coupe"--and a fitting ride for those Masters of the Universe.