AutomotiveTraveler has posted the following regarding their latest discovery on the new Mercedes-Benz car under testing, also the image above shows the front end of New R-Class:
“AutomotiveTraveler is making its weekly rounds in California desert, hunting down vehicles as they undergo extreme hot weather testing in one of the world’s most punishing environments. This time we caught a caravan of Mercedes enginers on their lunchbreak, and of all the fine dining establishments available in the region, our friends from Stuttgart chose to dine at Mickey D’s. Next time, try Tokyo House Japanese Restaurant down the street; from our our past visits to the California high desert we can tell you that the lunch specials are the best in town.




Today we were rewarded with not just a Big Mac, but with these glimpses of a heavily disguised Mercedes-Benz, which based on previously published images, would appear to be a 4-door coupe version of the current C-Class, which some web sites have identified as the next CLK. Judging by the effort that they’ve taken to cover the C-pillar and rear-wheel arch, it appears they’re doing their best to disguise a rear door, applying a CLS-style four-door sport sedan treatment to the smaller C-Class platform.
Looking carefully through the horizontal slots in the rear-side camo, you can see the edge of the rear window and the C-pillar and the bumpy vertical seam in the camo reveals what appears be the outline of the rear door edge. (If you download the larger, high-resolution images from the C-Class image gallery, all of the details will come into clearer focus.)
In addition to the cover around the C-pillar, the test team has taken great pains to hide the character lines along the hood and doors, and are disguising features on the nose and mirrors as well. Our vantage point did provide us a clear shot at all the front fascia elements, including a large opening in the lower valance leading us to believe that this is the V8 variant.



Overhead helicopter views indicate a panoramic glass roof as well. This vehicle will probably be premiered at 2009 Frankfurt Motor show as a 2010 model, as this level of camo is usually found on vehicles 12-18 months from production reveal. “