2010 Mercedes E-Class Brochure Leaks Ahead Of Detroit [Detroit Auto Show]

Planning a 2010 trip to Stuttgart? This is the taxi that'll pick you up from the airport. It'll be a nicer taxi than in recent years, Mercedes is channeling the '80s for the new E-Class. Remember when Mercedes sedans were like rolling blocks of granite, hewn from a quality so peerless that it felt like they would last a lifetime? Well, apparently so do the company's designers, who are channeling that block-like look for the interior of the 2010 Mercedes E-Class. Gone is the chintzy cheapness of the early 2000s, replaced with simple, rounded two-tone forms and big chunky buttons. The exterior looks a little less successful, at least in these brochure scans, attempting to combine conceptFASCINATION details with a squared-off, yet swoopy profile. It looks tough, if a bit fussy from the front, classy from the sides and, well, like a Toyota Avalon from the rear. Just remember to point your taxi's front at any potential passengers. But those fares won't just be impressed by the new focus on quality and the bold teutonic looks, they'll appreciate the larger interior, achieved by expanding the E-class a centimeter in nearly every direction except height, which is a smidge lower than before. For the European market at least, there's a range of 10 available engines, five diesels and five gasoline units. Those range from a distinctly taxi-like 2.10-liter, 136 HP diesel to the Miami Dentist special that is the 388 HP 5.5-liter V8.