梅赛德斯奔驰（Mercedes-Benz）从不放弃任何一次自抬身价的机会。首先最让奔驰引以为傲的是它在1886年设计出了世界上第一辆汽车，不过现在奔驰又想让大家知道，它创造了“一种新的汽车车型”——也就是四门轿跑，不过它本质上只能算是一次外观设计上的创新。这款新车就是奔驰的CLS。

    CLS可谓是一匹黑马，2003年，它从斯图加特市的奔驰设计中心横空出世。它的设计特立独行，不同于路面上行驶的任何一款轿车。自问世起，CLS已经获得了巨大的成功，在全球共卖出17万辆。而且它也受到了德国其他竞争厂商的竞相模仿。奔驰对CLS的2012款进行了重新设计，它现在是目前市面上最优雅、同时也是最抢眼的车型

    在四门轿跑的定义问题上，奔驰称CLS“集跑车的优雅和动感与轿车的舒适和实用于一身”。换句话说，所谓四门轿跑车型首先是一款四门轿车，只是它的车顶弧度更大，就像一款双门跑车一样。奔驰公司还表示：“我们勇敢地向市场推出了一种全新的汽车理念，全世界的顾客都因此获益匪浅。”这未免太往自己脸上贴金了。

    这种车型究竟有多新颖？要说奔驰公司让四门轿跑的理念重获新生，这种说法倒并不算夸张。不过从以下的几幅图片中你就可以看出，四门轿跑并不是什么革命性的概念，以下谨为大家列出四门轿跑家族的几款代表性车型，它们都是奔驰CLS的叔伯弟兄，最早的一款可以追溯到1940年。

    Mercedes-Benz never ignores an opportunity to pat itself on the back. Already credited with devising the first automobile in 1886, it wants to be known for creating also "a new vehicle category." This time, the claimed credit is essentially for a design exercise -- the four-door coupe. The new car in question is the CLS.

    The CLS unexpectedly emerged from Mercedes's design center in Stuttgart in 2003, looked like nothing else then on the road, and has been a big success -- having sold 170,000 worldwide. It has also been imitated by Mercedes's German competitors. Redesigned for 2012, it is one of the most elegant and eye-catching cars on the road -- hugely appealing despite the usual stiff Mercedes price of $83,095.

    In defining the four-door coupe, Mercedes describes the CLS as combining "the elegance and dynamism of a coupé with the comfort and functionality of a saloon. " In other words, a four-door styled with a more sharply curving roofline -- like a two-door coupe. Mercedes adds, perhaps redundantly, "Customers all over the world benefited from our bold move to launch a completely new vehicle concept onto the market."

    But how new is it really? Give Mercedes credit for reviving and reinvigorating the concept. But it isn't exactly revolutionary, as we will see in the following gallery. Herewith, some branches on the CLS family tree, going back to 1940.