Mercedes-Benz CL-Klasse 600 V12 (W215), 2004. Three owners, 66,748
km, service books from new.
There is a misconception that the pinnacle of Mercedes was to be
found mostly in the S-Class. Not quite true. The real statement,
the car the engineers in Stuttgart poured their finest work into
and the board their egos, was the CL. The coupe without a B-pillar,
built on the platform of the S but without the drag of rear doors,
without the compromise of "we also need to be able to ferry a
cabinet minister in it." The CL was for the man who drove himself,
and who wanted the best. Full stop.
And within that CL family there was another hierarchy. At the
bottom the 500 with its V8, tidy, more than enough. And then at the
top, all on its own, wearing a badge that whispered "V12" and kept
quiet about "two turbos": the CL 600. Six litres. Twelve cylinders.
And a torque figure that stood out mainly because you never heard
it, only felt it, somewhere deep in the pit of your stomach when
the motorway was empty and you briefly forgot you were sitting in a
car of almost two tonnes and two metres wide.
I have always had a soft spot for the W215. Not because it shouts,
because it never does. In fact, the remarkable thing about a CL 600
is precisely that it stays silent. Where an Italian delivers a
crescendo you would need a season ticket to the Royal Albert Hall
for, this twelve-cylinder does the opposite. It whispers. A soft,
civilised murmur, and then suddenly you are fifty kilometres per
hour faster without a shred of drama being involved. That is the
art. Violence disguised as comfort.
The story continues on our website, where the full file is kept as
well. 121 photographs including the underside. The service history,
scanned in full. Paint thickness measured panel by panel. The
original factory brochure to page through. A timeline from 30 June
2005 to today, with every owner and the mileage year by year in a
single graph.
Every car here follows the same route: first pre-market, then the
showroom, and finally the live auction on our own site. What
changes is the way you buy, not the location - once a car has
arrived, it stays with us in Katwijk. This one is in the showroom
and you are welcome to come and see it, no appointment needed. You
buy it here at a fixed price: no bidding, no waiting. Our showroom
in Katwijk, 30 km from Amsterdam Schiphol, is open Mon-Fri 9-18 and
Sat 10-17. Call ahead and it will be standing ready, with someone
free for you.
Within the EU no customs duty arises on this purchase. Registration
tax and registration costs in your own country are not included. We
supply the export documents and assist with the registration. The
price shown is the full price for collection in Katwijk. We arrange
insured door-to-door transport worldwide, cost quoted per
destination beforehand.
Prefer a different colour or specification than this example? Tell
us what you are looking for - another Mercedes-Benz we can often
find through our network of marque specialists and collectors,
outside the listings.
Our showroom measures 6,000 m�, with over 150 cars under one roof.
HooG Selections, Katwijk, the Netherlands. Call or WhatsApp: +31 85
043 05 86.
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