Four-door coupe. If you’re looking for an oxymoron in motoring journalism, this is it. But that’s exactly what these two beauties are. Way back in 2004, someone (read the geniuses in marketing) at Mercedes decided that in order to conquer greater market share, it needed to create and explore new classes and sub-classes within segments.

So in came the CLS, a comfortable luxury sedan that was styled like a coupe and had four doors and space for four adults.

It was essentially a car made for the quintessential E-class buyer who wanted something with more panache. It was the origin of the species. The CLS got the first-mover advantage, the others followed. VW came up with the Passat CC, Porsche the Panamera and so on. And where Mercedes was doing so well in this new segment, its German friends from Ingolstadt couldn’t be far behind.