2003 Mercedes Ls55 Amg With Lorinser Package on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Geely and Mercedes-Benz invest $780 million to make electric Smart cars

BEIJING/SHANGHAI — Zhejiang Geely and Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday said they would each invest $388.77 million (2.7 billion yuan) in a China-based venture to build "premium and intelligent electrified" vehicles under the Smart brand. The 50:50 venture has received regulatory approval and will be based in the Chinese coastal city of Ningbo, the Chinese and German automakers said in a statement. Like Mercedes-Benz, smart is a Daimler marque. The venture will have manufacturing capacity in China and sales operations in China and Germany, the automakers said. Geely will lead in engineering the cars while Mercedes-Benz will take charge of their overall look, they said. The partners will each have three executives on the board of directors, with Geely's Tong Xiangbei becoming the venture's global chief executive. Geely has expanded rapidly through mergers and acquisitions since buying Sweden's Volvo in 2010 from U.S. parent Ford. In 2018, it built a stake of almost 9.7% in Daimler and set up a ride-hailing venture in China with the Stuttgart-based carmaker. Its latest announcement comes just over a month after China's Great Wall and Germany's BMW formed a venture to build electric Mini-branded cars in China, the world's biggest market for electrified vehicles where demand for smaller EVs is on the rise. Related Video:

2016 Mercedes CLA and GLA get more power, quicker

Unlike in Europe, Mercedes-Benz doesn't have hyper hatches like the Audi RS3 to compete against in North America, at least not yet. However, the company isn't letting its high-performance compacts get behind the times anywhere in the world with the announcement that the CLA45 AMG and GLA45 AMG in the US are getting practically the same raft of upgrades as the ones across the pond. Both models go on sale in October in US dealers. Like its European counterpart, the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder in the diminutive AMGs receives upgrades to produce 375 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque (the 381 hp rating over there is in metric ponies). That's an impressive 20-horsepower and 18 lb-ft bump over the current version of the mill. Beyond just the boost in output, quicker acceleration comes from revised, more aggressive ratios in third through seventh gears. The latest AMGs make great use of their upgrades, too. The 2016 GLA45 now clocks the run to 60 miles per hour in 4.3 seconds, a staggering half-second quicker than the 2015 model. The CLA45 slices 0.3 seconds off its time to make the sprint in 4.1 seconds, which gives the sedan the same acceleration as a SL63 AMG. In addition to the powertrain tweaks, the 2016 models get a few other added luxuries. As in Europe, they receive the Dynamic Select System that uses a rotary knob select from multiple driving modes. Inside, there's standard keyless start, dual-zone climate controls, and Mercedes' latest infotainment unit. A "Turbo 4Matic" badge on the fender now hints at the vehicles' performance potential. The new Dynamic Plus Package is the major addition to the options list. It combines a limited slip differential at the front, AMG Adaptive Suspension, Race Mode, Performance Steering Wheel, and pushes the top speed to 167 mph. At the same time, the AMG Driver's Package is discontinued, and the AMG Performance Studio Package is dropped on the CLA45. Related Video:

Clark Gable's 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing doesn't sell, then does sell for $1.85 million [UPDATE: w/video]

How much extra value does previous celebrity ownership add to of a car? Really, there's no way to know until the car in question hits the auction block and bidders start raising their hands. In the case of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing you see above, the celebrity owner is none other than Clark Gable, who purchased it new. After Gable's death in 1960, the car changed hands a few times before settling with Charles Wood in 1975.
A high-dollar restoration was performed in 1989, and period accessories added by Gable himself were kept in place, including the Rudge knock-off wheels and Nardi steering wheel. Any Mercedes-Benz 300SL is worth a big chunk of money. In the case of Clark Gable's old Gullwing, the bidding stalled at $1.9 million here at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. As one of the 5000-series cars, this 300SL carried a reserve, and a bit of after-the-fact dealmaking saw the car change hands for $1.85 million.
You can see our high-res image gallery above, and the car's official auction description below.