2008 Mercedes-benz Sl55 Amg Base Convertible 2-door 5.5l V8 on 2040-cars

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2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class revealed again in 1:18 scale

There is plenty to look forward to when it comes to the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but it could end up being a fairly anticlimactic reveal thanks to fully exposed spy shots, a leaked press photo and now images of a diecast version of the luxury sedan. Autoweek.nl has images showing a highly detailed 1:18 scale model of the redesigned S-Class that matches up with everything we've seen so far.
This isn't the first time a model car spoiled a new vehicle's reveal, as the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class and 2013 SRT Viper were both unceremoniously revealed in toy form first. World Car Fans is reporting that the car 2014 S-Class will be officially unveiled on May 15, but at this point, all that's left to wonder about is the official on-sale date and what will be under the hood.

The hottest modern sports cars rendered as rally racers

The modern-day World Rally Championship a monumental amount of fun to watch – I should know, as I recently was lucky enough to head to the UK to watch WRC Wales Rally GB – but even the most monstrous of the current WRC cars are based on fairly pedestrian European hatchbacks. Back in the heyday of rally, the Group B era in the 1980s, much hotter cars were the basis of even more incredible competition machines, for the most part. Take the exotic Ford RS200, or the Lancia Delta S4 with its twin-charged engine. And the hatchback-based Group B cars were bonkers, too. So what would some of our favorite modern cars look like if Group B had never ended? A British site named CarWow hired an artist to reimagine everything from the Rolls-Royce Wraith to the Porsche 911 as a retro-inspired rally car, and they were kind enough to let us share the results in the gallery above. The gallery features an Alfa Romeo Giulia in Martini livery, an Audi TT in classic Ur-Quattro colors, a Fiat 500 Abarth sporting massive flares and a hood blister full of auxiliary lights, a new Ford Mustang in RS200 livery, a Lancia Delta in Alitalia colors, a Porsche 911 in Rothmans livery, a Renault-Alpine in classic blue, a Rolls-Royce Wraith tribute to the Jules cologne Corniche Coupe, and a relatively modern-looking VW Touran. So far, the favorite around the office is the incredible Mercedes-Benz S-Class that is an homage to the wonderful 300 SEL 6.8 AMG "Red Pig" that essentially put AMG on the map. Check out the gallery above and see which one you like the best. Related Video:

2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA priced from $31,300*

Mercedes-Benz has kindly let loose the price of the 2015 GLA-Class, telling Autoblog.com that the base 208-horsepower GLA250 in two-wheel drive will go for $31,300 *not including a destination charge of $925. That makes for $32,225 in total to get one off the lot, a price predicted as early as last year and in our recent First Drive. The other two available models can push power to all four wheels, and after the destination fee is applied the GLA240 4Matic (pictured) will be $34,225 while the 355-horsepower GLA45 AMG will change lives and wallets to the tune of $49,225.
On the base scale, that puts the GLA250 just a few hundred dollar bills above the more powerful, rear-wheel drive BMW X1 and a stack of hundreds below the less powerful, front-wheel drive Audi Q3. If you're keeping in-house score, the GLA250 comes in at $1,400 above its sedan platform-mate with the same engine, the CLA250. At the high end, however, the competition doesn't have anything that can touch the AMG trim. Not that it should matter all that much - Mercedes needed something to keep these buyers in the family, and now they have it. If any of them should need even more power and more money spent, then there's always that 394-hp Brabus flavor. We'll have more info and details on each trim when Mercedes unleashes the shebang in the not-too-distant future.