Wheels Australia — June 2017

@wheelsaustralia 19

WAGENER’S FAVOURITES

This is not the answer I expected.

Ask Wagener to nominate his

favourite models from 20 years

at Mercedes-Benz and he doesn’t

hesitate: “Typically, I most like the

cars I’m working on now, so those

surfacing; people tell me it’s the

most beautiful of all coupes.

“Beauty is very important in our

history. The SLR Concept from 1999

was my first job at Mercedes-Benz.

There’s a lot of stuff going on [in the

the Japanese. “Really, to ou

European eyes, we don’t g

[Asian design]. They are su

with their different approa

I’m pretty sure they will fo

[our lead].”

The launch of an A-Clas

doesn’t mean the end of t

the four-door coupe versio

current A-Class. The new

sedan is primarily for Chin

hence the decision to laun

concept in Shanghai – but

is also a replacement CLA

program. Australia is expe

see the first of the new-ge

A-Class models around mi

PETER R

r

et it

ccessful

ch, but

llow

s sedan

he CLA,

nofthe

A-Class

a–

ch the

there

in the

cted to

neration

d-2018.

OBINSON

for 2021 and 2022.”

“If I look back, then the GT for its

iconic proportions. Like the 300SL

Gullwing it must last for decades.

It’s a new class of Mercedes-Benz

sportscar.TheS-ClassCoupeis

u

design] but it’s still a special car.

The [W176-generation] A-Class,

because when it came out [as a

concept in 2011], it changed the

way we designed our cars and

because it has been so influential

gorgeous; the proportions, the [with our rivals].

With 626kW and a scorching 0-97km/h time
of 2.3sec, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon
is essentially a drag-race car for the road.
However Texas-based tuner Hennessey
Performance sees this as merely a good start,
with plans afoot to turn the wick up on the

Demon to the tune of 1500hp (1119kW). This is

likely to be achieved by a bigger supercharger

and beefier intercooler, plus new headers

and some software fettling. Almost doubling

the power output should turn the Demon into

something truly satanic.

...but deliver us from evil