The vigorous cover-up in that particular area is fueling suspicions that the CLK will be getting the CLS banana-boat treatment, complete with the “Coupe” moniker. Most of the details have been carefully obscured, but we’re not expecting to have our hair blown back when the wraps come off.

It is possible that the camo indicates a car that’s 12-18 months away, and that the debut will likely be at the 2009 Frankfurt show.

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At this point the 2009 CLK may be sporting camoflauge – but it doesn’t hide the well curved styling that Mercedes has improved upon. It has also been given a bit of change in styling including a new clam-shell hood, angular headlamps, and a twin bar grille. Of course we still can’t say too much on the styling until we’ve seen the whole thing uncovered.

Mercedes is planning on releasing more than one type of 2009 C-class models. We are hoping to have some more information in a few months that will give us an insight into what engines they will be equipped with how fast we can expect them to drive.

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Compared with the “standard” CLK63 AMG coupe, the Black Series is nearly 100 pounds lighter, and more potent. For one thing, there’s enough featherweight, beautifully sculptured carbon fiber inside and out to make about 1000 of those chic executive ashtrays.

Other upgrades include a retuned suspension with adjustable coil springs and ride height, a wider track front and rear, 19-inch forged-alloy AMG wheels wearing Pirelli performance tires, thicker composite front brake discs, strut tower braces under the hood and in the trunk, and a multiplate rear limited-slip.

As in all AMG products, the engine is handbuilt by one man from start to finish. The 6.2-liter V-8 is upgraded for Black Series duty with newly enlarged intake ducts, reprogrammed software, and a low-restriction sport exhaust. The result is 25 additional horsepower, a heady 500 horses at 7000 rpm. Torque climbs 13 pound-feet, to 478 at 5200 rpm.

As in the standard car, the transmission is an AMG-optimized version of Mercedes’s fine seven-speed automatic. Aluminum shift paddles behind the wheel and three transmission modes-including full manual-allow as much or as little gear-changing involvement as you like.

The Black Series cockpit is an intimate space. The deeply bolstered sport seats fit like a wetsuit, and the C-Class cabin doesn’t have an ounce of airy flab. Ahead of you sits a superb leather steering wheel with “F1-style” flat bottom. To your right is a stubby aluminum shifter that works so well you wonder why any car needs a Louisville Slugger jutting up between the seats. Judging by the reckless expanses of pricey carbon fiber draped across the dash and console, the designers are the sorts of people who feed Osetra caviar to their cats.

On the road, the Black Series reminds you of its track-optimized mission with a ride that’s as taut as an upper-octave piano string. Thanks in part to its ultra-stiff chassis, though, impacts are well absorbed and the driving experience is never brutal. The speed-sensitive power steering, modified for Black Series action, has a pleasing heft and feels more communicative than what we’ve experienced in other AMG models recently. Turn-in is sharper than the typical AMG model, too-though at 3911 pounds, the Black Series is hardly a slim sports racer.

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That math finally has caught on with the competition. For example, the upcoming Audi A5 coupe/convertible is based on the A4, the two-door BMW 3-series cars will be priced more like a theoretical 4-series, and the second-generation Lexus SC will be GS-based but positioned between the GS and the LS. There is no doubt that the increased competition will cut into the CLK’s market share pie.

In response, Mercedes plans to fortify the next CLK with several advanced technologies currently found in the S-class, including Presafe II, night vision, Comand II, and the Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control system. Mercedes also will treat the CLK to all-new styling when the third-generation model is introduced in the summer of 2008. The new CLK goes up half a notch in size but will continue to be twinned with the C-class, the next version of which is due next year. To save costs, both the C-class and the CLK also will share components with the next E-class, using a modular approach that’s a first for Mercedes. All three models will share a similar design language.

The lineup should include the CLK350, which gets a 272-hp V-6; the 388-hp, V-8-powered CLK500; and, later, the 503-hp CLK63 AMG. All will send power to the rear wheels, but 4Matic also may be offered. A hybrid version is likely, but Mercedes plans to roll out its hybrids from the top down, starting with the S-, M-, R-, and GL-classes in 2009, so don’t expect a CLK version anytime soon.

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It’s also reassuring to reflect that this car has a real racing heritage, mechanically identical to cars that appear on Formula 1 Grand Prix racetracks every weekend. Why were we at the Ring? And what’s this got to do with the U.S. market? We’ll get to that in a minute. Mercedes currently offers 18 AMG products, and discerning buyers, half of them living in the U.S., gobble ’em up as fast as they’re produced. Emboldened by this success, the AMG marketing brain trust came up with the Next Step: a special edition of an existing AMG product.

Think about that. Since all AMG models are special editions, we’re talking about a special edition of a special edition: Meet the CLK63 AMG Black Series. As the name suggests, it’s an embellishment of the current CLK63 AMG coupe, which isn’t offered in the U.S. Cabrios are the only ones available in the U.S. But the Black Series is an exception to that rule, the first of its kind to be offered to U.S. buyers. The Black Series begins with a CLK63 AMG coupe, a pretty lofty starting point. Black Series upgrades are extensive. Bigger brakes, 14.2-inch vented rotors front (versus 13.4 for the CLK63). AMG refers to the rotors as “composite,” which in this case means iron discs mated to aluminum carriers.

Bigger wheels: 19-inch forged aluminum versus 18s for the standard CLK63, with larger footprints of 265/30 front and 285/30 rear. The wider tires are sheltered by carbon-fiber fender flares, and carbon fiber is abundant throughout the car, right out to the small spoiler adorning the decklid and the diffusers below the rear fascia. Although the Black Series has all the luxo goodies that make the going pleasant in other Benz offerings, the carbon fiber, plus other weight-paring measures, conspire to reduce curb weight by about 100 pounds versus the CLK63 coupe’s and some 200-plus pounds versus the cabrio’s.

That math puts the Black Series around 3900 pounds, a number we wish were even lower.
Suspension: AMG sport dampers replace the standard Mercedes equipment, with higher spring rates and bigger anti-roll bars. Shock-absorber damping is adjustable, but not from the cockpit, and there’s also 20mm of adjustability in the static ride height, provided you have the right tools. As with other recent AMG offerings, the CLK Black Series is propelled by the new AMG 6.2-liter aluminum V-8. In this application, a special set of exhaust headers and revised engine management raise output from 475 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque to 500 and 478, respectively.

As incremental gains go, that may not sound like much. But mated to a shorter final drive, a little less mass, and reprogrammed shift parameters for the seven-speed automatic transmission, it feels like more than not much. In fact, it feels like a lot, particularly with Nürburgring corners rushing toward us like Ronin on fast forward. AMG’s acceleration forecast is 0-to-60 mph in 4.1 seconds. Since we’ve already recorded a 4.2 for the CLK63 cabrio, less power, more mass, 4.1 seems pretty conservative. 

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The urge to keep the throttle pinned is almost irresistible but will bring up extra-legal speeds in a hurry: 60 mph arrives in 4.2 seconds, 100 in 9.5, the quarter-mile in 12.5 at 116 mph. That’s 0.6 second quicker through the quarter than the last CLK55 coupe we tested [C/D, May 2004], despite the 4113-pound CLK63 weighing 373 more pounds. Those numbers are also within a sneeze of some intense performers, including the Ferrari F430 and BMW M5, and sufficient to humiliate the 2006 M3.

Inside, the CLK63 is fitted with seriously supportive front buckets, with lumbar, thigh, and bolster adjustments, and one of the sportiest steering wheels we’ve seen in a Benz. Even better, it doesn’t have that weighty feel we’ve become accustomed to in Mercedes products. Still, neither the steering nor the brakes respond quite as sharply as we’d like. Turn off the stability control and the CLK63 is still as friendly as can be, happily neutral and content to slide around at hero-sized drift angles.

Skidpad grip is a decent 0.86 g. But the extra-stiff AMG suspension sends noticeable tremors through the steering wheel and chassis, which makes us yearn for the more solid, sportier coupe that won’t be sold here. The biggest negative is probably the heart-stopping $92,575 base price, some $45,600 above an entry-level CLK350. That’s also $5100 more than big-brother E63, which seems backward.

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The new $43,900 CLK320 is only about $700 more expensive than the 2002 model, but is longer, wider and larger inside, a bit less sporty, a bit more sexy and festooned with many upgrades bestowed upon it from far more expensive Benzes, like the S-Class and CL-Class cars.

Among these are the slightest details, like the intuitive electric window switches, but also more significant ones like the arrangement and style of the gauges, the side-view mirror that automatically drops to show the curb when you throw the car into reverse and the tilt/telescoping steering wheel. But there’s also something we hope nobody ever needs dual side airbags and head protection airbags, all standard.

Then there’s perhaps the niftiest feature of all no center pillar. Think of the classic 1961 Lincoln Continental hardtop and you have an example of what we mean. Lower both front and rear windows of the CLK and a huge, semicircular opening reveals the cabin in clean, uninterrupted glory. It’s the simplest of features in a way the absence of obstruction, but it makes a huge difference in the experience of driving or being driven in a CLK.

Mercedes has become more hip of late, and it’s a welcome change from the stoical black-and-more-black interior themes of Stuttgart’s previous cars. Not that you’d claim the CLK is tailored to the PlayStation generation, but the milk-chocolate-hued burl walnut that crests the doors and center console is a shade lighter than wood you might have seen in a Benz ten years ago, and the addition of chrome to the cabin may be the latest fad, but Mercedes adds just enough to let you know they’re at least paying attention to haut auto styling, if not going overboard.

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In many ways, the CLK line is in a class by itself, sleek lines carefully sculpted to make a statement different from sedan-derived coupes like the BMW 330Ci. Completely redesigned last year, the current CLK models replace the first-generation (pre-2003) CLKs. The CLKs are all about style, and from Mercedes’ point of view, their direct competitors aren’t even on the road yet.

The CLK models offer excellent handling and are a joy to drive. They feel taut, like a true sports coupe, and don’t lean in corners. The ride is firm but comfortable. The CLK500 is more exciting to drive than the CLK320 and its interior seems nicer. Three models comprise the CLK line and each is available as a two-door coupe or cabriolet. Each offers progressively higher levels of performance, but are otherwise similarly equipped.

The CLK320 coupe ($44,350) and cabriolet ($51,400) are powered by a 3.2-liter V6, which develops 215 horsepower at 5700 rpm and 221 pounds-feet of torque at 4600 rpm. The CLK500 coupe ($52,800) and cabriolet ($59,850) get a 5.0-liter V8 that produces 302 horsepower at 5600 rpm and 339 pounds-feet of torque at 4250 rpm.

The CLK55 AMG coupe ($69,900) and cabriolet ($79,500) are limited-production models with an ultra high-performance 5.4-liter V8 rated at 362 horsepower at 5750 rpm and 376 pounds-feet of torque at 4000 rpm.

All three engines are mated to a smooth-shifting five-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission, which features software to adapt its shift points to suit the driver’s style. The transmissions also allow the driver to shift manually.

The CLK55 AMG transmission lets the driver choose between Formula 1-like buttons on the back of the steering wheel and the shift lever to select gears when in the manual mode. All CLK models boast a long list of standard equipment including: 10-way adjustable power seats with three memory settings.

All boast extremely well-equipped and attractive interiors, with two-tone leather and aluminum trim available as an option on the CLK500 and an exclusive, monochromatic black interior on the CLK55 AMG.

A notable addition to the line’s robust list of standard features is Mercedes’ Tele Aid system, which calls an emergency response center and gives the car’s location in the event any seatbelt tensioning retractor or airbag deploys. The cabriolet also boasts a new design of side-impact airbag mounted in the front seat that adds head protection to the usual chest protection expected from such systems.

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The base model is renamed from CLK 320 to CLK 350 by virtue of its new 268-hp, 3.5-liter V6 engine. This powerplant drives the rear wheels via a seven-speed automatic transmission with Adaptive Shift Control that automatically alters gear-shift patterns according to the way the car is being driven. A manual transmission remains unavailable on CLK models, which speaks to Mercedes skewing the car more toward luxury than sport.

The high-performance CLK55 AMG coupe is discontinued for 2006, leaving only the convertible model. It’s powered by a 362-hp, 5.5-liter V8 engine mated to a modified five-speed automatic with Adaptive Shift Control and Speedshift manual shift capability.

Aswith Mercedes’ other AMG models, the CLK55 AMG has a host of suspension, braking, steering and other upgrades to increase performance and handling. Styling tweaks include a rear spoiler, aluminum trim, special wheels and different bumpers with larger and more air intakes.

A 514-hp, 6.3-liter V8 is being introduced across Mercedes’ lineup and will power a new CLK model called the CLK63 AMG. It will go on sale in the summer of 2006 as a 2007 model. The super coupe will also feature a new seven-speed Speedshift automatic transmission. The CLK 500 continues with its 302-hp, 5.0-liter V8 and seven-speed automatic. For 2006, this model gets a sportier looking interior and a specially tuned AMG exhaust system.

A firmer and lowered sport-tuned suspension can be added to the CLK 350 and CLK 500 for $210.  Standard safety and chassis-control systems are plentiful in the CLK, with active head restraints intended to reduce whiplash injuries new for 2006.

Other safety features include four-wheel disc power antilock brakes with Brake Assist, Electronic Stability Control and Automatic Slip Control, as well as standard front, front-side and head-curtain airbags (the latter for front and rear occupants). Rear side airbags are optional.

The CLK is quite luxurious, with a smooth ride, velvety controls and a long list of standard amenities. Optional features include a navigation system, adaptive cruise control and high-intensity Xenon headlamps with Active Curve Illumination.

Convertible versions (which include the CLK 350 Cabriolet, CLK 500 Cabriolet and CLK55 AMG Cabriolet) feature a multilayer, fully automatic soft top with a glass rear window that when closed makes the interior nearly as quiet as the coupe. The retracted top takes up trunk space, which is plentiful for a convertible, and has a partition that lifts out of the way to create more space when the top is up.

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