The Shape Of Things To Come...

The most impressive aspect of the reveal of the new Mercedes C63 AMG Coupé is not the substantial numbers. Indeed, the 6.2l V8 motor comfortably outguns the 414 bhp M3 for around the same £58k price tag. The new 451 bhp road rocket brandishes SLS engine internals, the same dual clutch 100 millisecond-shift gearbox and adaptive suspension. This is interesting, but still not the greatest surprise. Maybe then, the headline should be the AMG Performance pack which takes output to 480 bhp, 0-62mph down a tenth to 4.4 seconds, giving this mid-size two door F430 chasing performance? Again, this is applaudable, but not the biggest achievement that was apparent to me.

If fact, Tyre Roar was most surprised that this is the first time we've seen this car. To elaborate, the C63 Coupé was, unusually, not leaked into cyberspace weeks or even months before its due date. The epidemic of early car reveals has spread unchecked over the past couple of years, with Mercedes being a particular culprit; the current E-Class, new SLK roadster and CLS were all shown shorn of camouflage prematurely, far before the Mercedes press department could whip up some publicity for their new model.

Jag XJ. Pretending to be a Beemer. Not fooling anyone.

The thirst for new cars is something manufacturers willingly play up to; they cover their test hacks in lurid patterns before sending them out onto the Nordschleife or public roads, touting the reason to be an attempt to conceal details of the new cars and prevent rivals getting a march on over their original design. Of course the makers are well aware than plain cladding would work just as well and in reality the zebra patterns are there to attract the attention of the spy photographers, get the experimental mules uploaded to every motoring site possible and create a storm about what's likely on the new flagship. Renderings of predicted exteriors predictably follow, and journos and readers alike hang on every word they are fed before the official reveal. It's all very savvy marketing.

Now all car site addicts will have been aware of the forthcoming C Class Coupé moths ago, but crucially Mercedes managed to get the official press shots of the car all the way to their desired reveal without the embargo or secrecy being overturned or flouted. They also, mercifully, avoided the temptation to indulge themselves in the murky, stylishly lit world of the teaser shot.

We've all seen them. Weeks before a motor show, the hype machine goes into overdrive as shadowy pictures of indicators and door handles start to creep on to the web, inducing a spate of panic about what the new concept could be. I remember well the furore ignited when Lamborghini released the picture on the right to ramp up the tension ahead of the surprise Estoque project.

Keen eyed observers noted the longer than usual bonnet and air outlet in the side repeater, and created an enormous fuss over the possibility of a front-engined Lambo. Was it to be an LM022 successor, to take on the Cayenne Turbo? Could there be a raging bull super saloon, or 599-style front-engined coupé? The end result, it must be said, was no disappointment, but it was undoubtedly one of the most convoluted car build ups ever.

Lamborghini are one of the few manufacturers that can pull this trick off. It's almost a given that any new Lambo will be such a style statement that they can afford to ramp up the hype machine - it's never going to fall flat on its face. Since then they've used the same technique with the Sesto Elemnto concept and the Aventador, cars which were very much stars of their show.

Teaser for modern cooker hob Sesto Elemento...

Can the striptease treatment work for any car? Quite possibly not. Kia would have struggled to generate similar attention if it had shown airbrushed snippets of the exhaust tips of the new Picanto, indeed the whole car got less attention than the doors of Sant'Agata's latest export.


Still, I'm going to give the spy shot business a go, and will watch with interest to see if the traffic for the site spikes as the reveal date of what is pictured below nears. Due for full unveiling in a couple of weeks, here are some cheeky teasers of my new car, which I'll be posting about, at last, in due course. In the meantime, let the rumour mill begin...