Renault poured a staggering 1.4bn francs (€285m) into development of the world’s first MPV coupé following the reveal of the Concept in 1998 at the Paris Salon. Remarkably true to the original design, the 'Avantime', built by Matra, was a genuine mould-breaker that offered a luxurious cabin with ‘Theatre’ seating, pillarless side windows and a full..
When the Klaus Kapitza designed 8 Series was launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989, it felt like a glimpse into the future with its angular styling. An upmarket range with superior performance and price tag to match, the 8 Series was designed to be a standalone premium model although seen to be the successor to the 6 Series. The 8 Series was..
The fifth generation of the legendary SL series of two-door convertible sports cars was known as the R230. It featured a fully retractable hardtop that was marketed as the Vario roof, a first for the SL Class although it had been available on the smaller SLK model since 1997. The flagship models were built by AMG in the form of the SL55 and SL65, b..
The 2003 E-Class was larger than its predecessors while offering less interior space, particularly in the estate version, than the W210 it replaced. It offered petrol or diesel engines with a choice of rear or four-wheel drive. The redesigned 2003 model featured electrohydraulic braking system marketed as Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC), which was ..
Stuttgart supplied these grand-tourers with high levels of comfort including a fabric convertible top as well as a colour-matched and manually detachable hardtop that could be fitted over the stored fabric convertible roof. Other advancements included an electronically controlled damping and the famous hidden, automatically extending roll-over bar...
DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL, THIS LOT HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN FROM THE AUCTIONThe 560 SL convertible was the latest in Mercedes-Benz's long and much loved line of luxury sports cars. Launched in 1983 it could trace its lineage back to the 230 SL of 1963. The 560 SL was powered by a 5.5 litre, overhead camshaft V8 engine producing 227bhp, an ..
Historically, the E-Class is Mercedes-Benz' best-selling model, with more than 13 million sold by 2015. The first E-Class series was originally available as a four-door saloon, five-door estate, two-door coupé and two-door convertible. From 1997 to 2009, the equivalent coupé and convertible were sold under the Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class nameplate; whi..
The Spider designation for the open top sports cars originates from the word, speeder, and a two-person open horse carriage. The Alfa Romeo 105/115 Series Spider was produced from 1966 to 1993, remaining in production for almost three decades with only minor aesthetic and mechanical changes. Widely regarded as a design classic, this fourth series v..
The Mercedes-Benz R107 was produced from 1971 through to 1989 and became the second longest single series ever produced by Mercedes-Benz after the G Class. Sold under the SL model names, the R107 replaced the W113 SL Class in 1972 which was in turn replaced by the R129 SL Class in 1989. The SL variant was a two-seat convertible/roadster with standa..
In 1975, the Jaguar E-Type finally gave way to an all new and more efficient Jaguar, the Jaguar XJ-S. Although never quite having the same sporting image as the E-Type, the final example of this new luxury grand tourer left the production line on 4th April 1996 at which stage 115,413 units had been manufactured during a 21 year production life. V12..