What’s cool about the CLS is the style. There is nothing like it on the road, nothing as unique with such a smokin’ tone. This is style in metal; it’s almost as if the Mercedes-Benz design team spent a year living in Hollywood with weekends in Vegas. The result is a smooth design that makes a statement when it drives down the road, with its low-slung body, exaggerated shoulder line and dynamic arch. The two chrome exhaust pipes punctuate the rear of the car and serve as an excellent period to the prose that is this car.

There is a sacrifice, however, and it comes when you smack your head against that low-slung roofline. Of course, if you’re not bright enough to watch out – you probably aren’t bright enough to afford the CLS. Once inside, the experience is uber-comfortable, with occupants swathed in the fine leather and wood trim surfaces. Along with the materials used, fit and finish is excellent, with gaps perfectly placed, though it would be nice to come up with a better cupholder design in the front, as the “push” button seems a bit redundant. While the size of the holder will easily fit a Venti-sized coffee cup, medium-sized bottles of water have some difficulty. Environmental controls are easy to reach and simple to understand, which is better than the Comand navigation system: Finding an alternate route while on the road was difficult, and the map display was a bit lacking in terms of the interface. Like most Mercedes models, the cruise control is activated by a stalk next to the turn signal stalk – a really, really interesting place to put it – but no surprise.

Noise is non-existent, of course, and available room for elbows, shoulders and hips is surprisingly plentiful – given the dimensions of the car. Our assumption was that driver and front passenger would be a little cramped at the shoulders and hips. The back seat is another story, however. There’s not much legroom in back, but then, if you’re buying, you’re driving, so you probably don’t much care about rear comfort levels. Those who do sit in back, though, will tell you that the roof is a pain in the cranium and that there is not enough legroom – though the rear bucket seats are nicely designed.