Yesterday Mercedes-Benz unveiled the fantastically named Vision Iconic concept, a giant coupe that takes inspiration from streamliners of the Art Deco era and other coupes like the original 300SL. It got me thinking about luxurious coupes in general, a segment that seems to be getting smaller with every passing year. That brought me to today’s question: What’s your favorite big luxury coupe?
It doesn’t have to be a brand new or recent model, but let’s stick with the modern era, please, or at the very least post-WWII stuff, because otherwise I doubt we’d have as much variety, and all of my own picks would be things like the Bugatti Royale. I’ll accept a broad range of submissions for this one, though, so long as the words “big,” “luxury,” and “coupe” all apply as accurate descriptors. It could be ’60s V12 Ferrari, something American from the ’80s, maybe a newer German creation like the old S-Class coupe.
My pick
The first one that came to my mind is the Bentley Brooklands, the hardtop equivalent of the Arnage-based droptop Azure. Only 550 of the rear-wheel-drive Brooklands were made starting in 2008, featuring the most torque-rich gas V8 on sale at the time, optional carbon-ceramic brakes, and a starting price of around $350,000. It looked absolutely fantastic, with no B-pillar and one of the largest rear quarter panels ever used by a car. The interior is extremely sumptuous, and there’s genuinely space for four people. Did I mention that it’s almost 18 feet long?
I vividly remember the first time I saw a Brooklands in real life. I was a young college student in San Francisco, on a nighttime walk to clear my head, when I turned a corner to find a black Brooklands was parked right there on the curb, in the rain, looking absolutely glorious. I spent a few minutes poring over the details — as did the hotel valets — and went on my merry way, exponentially happier than I had been before. And, sorry, the Brooklands is my favorite partly because of the “Top Gear” episode where Jeremy Clarkson absolutely destroyed a set of tires.
What about you, beloved reader? What’s your favorite big luxury coupe? Remember, it has to be big, luxurious, and a coupe. I’ll round up my favorite answers later this week.
