1991 Mercedes Benz 500sl Hard Top Convertible on 2040-cars

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Drive like a prince: Join us for a walk through Monaco's car collection

Small, crowded, and a royal pain in the trunk lid to drive into during rush hour, Monaco sounds like an improbable location for a huge car museum. And yet, this tiny city-state has been closely linked to car culture for over a century. It hosts two major racing events every year, many of its residents would qualify for a frequent shopper card if Rolls-Royce issued one, and Prince Rainier III began assembling a collection of cars in the late 1950s. He opened his collection to the public in 1993 and the museum quickly turned into a popular tourist attraction. The collection continued to grow after his death in April 2005; it moved to a new facility located right on Hercules Port in July 2022. Monaco being Monaco, you'd expect to walk into a room full of the latest, shiniest, and most powerful supercars ever to shred a tire. That's not the case: while there is no shortage of high-horsepower machines, the first cars you see after paying ˆ10 (approximately $11) to get in are pre-war models. In that era, the template for the car as we know it in 2023 hadn't been created, so an eclectic assortment of expensive and dauntingly experimental machines roamed whatever roads were available to them. One is the Leyat Helica, which was built in France in 1921 with a 1.2-liter air-cooled flat-twin sourced from the world of aviation. Fittingly, the two-cylinder spun a massive, plane-like propeller. Government vehicles get a special spot in the museum. They range from a Cadillac Series 6700 with an amusing blend of period-correct French-market yellow headlights and massive fins to a 2011 Lexus LS 600h with a custom-made transparent roof panel that was built by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet for Prince Albert II's wedding. Here's where it all gets a little weird: you've got a 1952 Austin FX3, a Ghia-bodied 1959 Fiat 500 Jolly, a 1960 BMW Isetta, and a 1971 Lotus Seven. That has to be someone's idea of a perfect four-car garage.  One of the most significant cars in the collection lurks in the far corner of the main hall, which is located a level below the entrance. At first glance, it's a kitted-out Renault 4CV with auxiliary lights, a racing number on the front end, and a period-correct registration number issued in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of France. It doesn't look all that different than the later, unmodified 4CV parked right next to it. Here's what's special about it: this is one of the small handful of Type 1063 models built by Renault for competition.

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.

2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris First Drive

We're sitting 8,700 feet above sea level in the idyllic old mining town of Dunton Hot Springs, nestled deep in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. We've come to drive the newest and cheapest Mercedes-Benz, a midsize work van called the Metris. As the day begins, Mercedes van boss Bernhard Glaser states the obvious, "We're setting up camp in the US." It's a good line, perhaps a little too fitting given our surroundings, but it's accurate. Though the US commercial van market is dominated by Ford and General Motors, Mercedes has staked out a competitive position and is digging for more. The tall, capable Sprinter relaunched with a Mercedes badge in the United States in 2010 and has grown into a $1-billion enterprise in America. Now comes Phase 2, dubbed "Mission Metris," starring a tweener van that's smaller than the towering Sprinter yet larger the Ford Transit Connect and Nissan NV200. The 2016 Metris enters a crowded and evolving segment that also includes the Ram ProMaster City and GM's super-old Chevy Express and GMC Savana. Mercedes will sell the Metris in cargo and passenger forms, meaning it will be outfitted for a range of roles, including taxi and limousine companies, delivery duties, service, and maintenance. Yes, your cable guy might show up in a Mercedes. That's part of the plan, actually. Though the Metris was engineered to be a pack-mule of a van, if the shine of the star on its grille helps attract new buyers – like a chain of upscale hotels that needs a fleet of shuttles – all the better. Our short test drive begins outside the small canyon town of Dolores, CO, as we haul four people and some luggage to the airport in a pre-production Metris. Normally test programs staged by automakers are a little contrived – many feature an off-road course or track time for even the most mundane vehicles – but our stint behind the wheel of the Metris is almost exactly how the van could be used in real life. We make our way along Colorado's winding highways, cruising around 60 miles per hour for much of it. The Metris offers an excellent view of the road and the snow-capped mountains that rise in the distance. It's an easy van to drive. We don't feel like we're piloting a U-Haul or something else cumbersome. Mercedes is billing this as the 'right-sized' option, and our initial impressions support that sentiment as we navigate the curves flanked by steep drop-offs.