From nose to tail, the CL-Class is something out of the ordinary.   Seen from the front, it's instantly identifiable as a Mercedes-Benz from its newly revised twin-bar grille and lighting.   The famous three-point star emblem is front and center and as large as a dinner plate, just to be sure you don't mistake the CL-Class for any other brand.   As if you could.  

At 200 inches long, this is a large car.   Its size gives it presence and the proportions are spot-on.   It has substantial mass too, though the front fenders, hood and door skins are aluminum and the trunk-lid is composite.   Surprisingly, the AMG performance models are ever-so-slightly taller.  

The front end stretches wide and sweeps back into a pair of prominent flared front wheel openings, a design element derived from the S-Class sedans with which the CL-Class shares its underpinnings.   Its 73.7-inch width makes it look solidly planted and substantial.   There's moderate chrome up front in typical Mercedes understatement.   But it's still a knockout first impression.   LED running and signal lights, and hidden radar and parking sensors add the final bit of modernity to the nose.  

It's the sweep of the roof that makes the CL-Class's compelling style statement.   The top arcs dramatically over the side glass and down into the C-pillar without the interruption of a B-pillar, the central support post most cars have between front and rear side windows.   The roofline is sleek.   And this is a true hardtop; you can drop the large side windows down for a panoramic view and an open-air feeling.   Handsomely wrought chrome trim framing the large side-window opening emphasizes both its shape and the absence of the second pillar.   In profile, the CL-Class is gorgeous and sporty.   The flank's arches framing the rear wheels appear slightly large on the all-wheel drive CL550 because it does not have the wider-rear-than-front tire sizing of rear-drive CL-Class cars.  

Even as it drives away, the CL-Class keeps your attention.   The rear window's horseshoe-like shape is especially intriguing, like a canopy pulled taut over a frame and not seen anywhere else in the automotive kingdom.   Below the rear window the tail tapers gracefully into a pair of large taillights and a taut trunk lid wearing a subtle built-in rear spoiler at its top edge.   Sedans don't look like this, and that's just the point.  

Outside of the model badges and wheels, the CL550 4MATIC and CL600 models are essentially identical from the outside.  

The AMG models can be identified by distinctive grilles, wherein the Mercedes star is supported by a single chrome bar over black mesh, and by their more muscular-looking front bumper with larger air intakes.   Contoured side skirts carry the aggressive lines of the front bumper to the rear, where four oval exhaust outlets punctuate the air diffuser set into the unique rear apron.   Both roll on 20-inch, five-spoke alloy wheels, but with a slimmer-looking forged twin-spoke design standard on the CL65 AMG.