Sensible and SENSATIONAL! This is my idea of a Mercedes I'd love to see Stuttgart build: An E400TDI-h. For this "professor's" Benz, I've brought back the idea of a longitudinally mounted inline 6-cylinder turbodiesel powerplant, this time with a hybrid-assisted drivetrain. There is a practical hatchback in the rear and with careful aero-tuning I'd predict a nice round 50mpg of fuel-sipping diesel in combined city/highway driving. As much as I loved the first generation CLS 4-door coupe, the new one falls short for me and I'd rather have seen a fastback/hatchback E-Series instead!
The background is a detail from a watercolor painting I found hidden behind the cardboard of an antique frame. There was a second painting, too. Story at my artandcolour blog: here.