The Shooting Brake is as its classical English designation suggests a coupe with an stationwagon-like roof line, but will likely lose this in production format and revert to a 4 door coupe as the last generation CLS was.

There are hints of the new SLS sports car in the front grille that will be carried over into the next CLS, but it remains to be seen if the boat tail treatment above the rear wheels will also make it onto the production car – time will tell…

Mercedes Shooting Brake Concept Front

Mercedes Shooting Brake Concept Side

Mercedes Shooting Brake Concept Rear

Mercedes Shooting Brake Concept Interior

The concept car itself features a minivan style sliding rear door for easy access, but this would unlikely make production. It has what Mercedes describes as a multi drive platform meaning it can accommodate electric motors along side either a range extender hybrid combustion engine, a fuel cell, or a larger amount of batteries, whichever format the customer chooses.

Mercedes F800 Style Concept Front

Mercedes F800 Style Concept Side

Mercedes F800 Style Concept Rear

Mercedes F800 Style Concept interior

The concept car showed in 3 different configurations of engine – the E-Cell, which was battery powered electric drive with a range of up to 200 kilometers, the F-cell which used a Hydrogen fuel Cell to power the same electric motors rather than batteries and had a range of up to 400 km, and the e-Cell plus, which used the same set up as the E-cell but also used a petrol engine as a generator to allow for extended journeys with a range of up to 600 km, with 100km alone on battery power only.

All 3 cars used the unique layout of the Mercedes B-Class hatchback as a starting point as it has a dual layer sandwich floor that allows the batteries & fuel cell to be stored within the chassis at a very low centre of gravity without affecting the cabin space.

Mercedes BlueZero Concept Front

Mercedes BlueZero Concept Side

Mercedes BlueZero Concept Rear

Mercedes BlueZero Concept Interior

In reality the Fascination concept previewed the forthcoming new e-class range, having the identical front end to the production cars, and rear styling close to that of the estate, and in being a coupe itself also hinted that Mercedes would release a new E-class coupe too, which they inevitably did.

The concept car used a 2.2 litre 4 cylinder diesel engine with twin turbochargers to push power to 204 horsepower whilst keeping very low emissions.

Mercedes Benz Fascination Concept Front

Mercedes Benz Fascination Concept Side

Mercedes Benz Fascination Concept Rear

Mercedes Benz Fascination Concept Interior

The concept was based on the Mercedes S 600, and featured its 12 cylinder engine and yet itself was a preview to the forthcoming E-Class convertible, which later replaced the CLK. The Ocean Drive was never destined for production, but used to convey future styling themes with Mercedes customers and gauge their reactions.

Mercedes Benz Ocean Drive Concept Front

Mercedes Benz Ocean Drive Concept Side

Mercedes Benz Ocean Drive Concept Rear

The styling was a combination of the S-class, along with the overall S-class dimensions, but with the swooping curves of body and roofline seen on the earlier CLS production car.

Mercedes Benz F700 Concept Front

Mercedes Benz F700 Concept Side

The Gran Coupe concept sits between the 5 series and 7 series in size, with a saloon body and 4 door but a more curvaceous roofline. It is also an answer to cars such as the Jaguar XF and new XJ whose looks have made the recent new 5 & 7 series look very dull and derivative by comparison. Unfortunately the Gran Coupe is not quite as adventurous as the CS concept, but at least it is a step in the right direction for the brand.

BMW Gran Coupe Concept Front

BMW Gran Coupe Concept Car

BMW Gran Coupe Concept Rear

The concept car itself is a wonderful blend of surfaces that takes a lot of design cues from BMW’s earlier M1 Homage concept car, and power is supplied by a 3 cylinder diesel engine combined with 2 electric motors – one in each axle, which give a combined power of 356 hp, and a torque level of 590 lb/ft, with charge for the electric motors coming from a Lithium Polymer battery, which can be plugged in to recharge from a conventional power supply.

BMW EfficientDynamics Concept Front

BMW EfficientDynamics Concept Side

BMW EfficientDynamics Concept Rear

BMW EfficientDynamics Concept Interior

The concept car has the striking angular 70′s lines just like the Giugiaro and yet also features some design cues such as the front grill that can also be seen in the later Efficient Dynamics concept, and both cars hint towards BMW producing a competitor to the Audi R8 that has been a great halo car for the brand and a fantastic sales success for Audi.

BMW did not show an interior for the car or reveal exactly what engine or power-train it might use, it was purely a styling exercise.

BMW M1 Concept Front

BMW M1 Concept Side

BMW M1 Concept Rear

The GINA was truly out of the box thinking by BMW as it featured a flexible cloth waterproof exterior for the car, wrapped over a framework designed to make the edges and creases stand out, yet making the car incredibly light due to the lack of metal, and removing the need for separate panels – for example the doors and front wing are joined, allowing the fabric to fold and crease when the door is opened, then become taught again and regain shape once it is closed.

It was a truly remarkable idea – what it would mean in production for crash regulations is another matter, but it would have been great to see a limited run into production.

BMW GINA Concept Front

BMW GINA Concept Side

BMW GINA Concept Rear