According to Autoweek, Mercedes-Benz is set to unveil the F800 Style concept car at the Geneva Auto Show, which will take place next month.  The blog made the following statement about the concept vehicle:

“Mercedes is calling the F800 Style a research vehicle, and it’s adaptable for a plug-in hybrid configuration or as a fuel cell. It’s skinned it an eye-catching body with bold fenders and a prominent grille that hints at future styling directions for the German company.”

Sounds like an awesome green concept car.  We’ll definitely keep our eyes peeled for more information about the Mercedes-Benz F800!

Popular Mechanics featured this awesome article in its March 2010 issue.  Jay Leno, famous for his love of everything cars, recently restored his 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing.  The car, which had been kept by its previous owners in a storage container for over thirty years, is a real beauty, thanks to Leno’s updates.  It also turns out, he’s only the third owner! Check out the article and see some great pictures of the restoration!

Ray Catena Motor Car is proud to be participating in fundraising for The American Heart Association. All month long, we will be offering you, our valued customers, the opportunity to save on your next service visit when you write a check for this worthy cause. Take a look at how you can help them and help yourself:

Donate and Save:
$10 – $19  (get 7% Off your entire bill)*
$20 – $29 (get 10% Off your entire bill)*
$30 or more (get 15% Off your entire bill)*

The American Heart Association is committed to fighting heart disease and stroke and raising awareness of these diseases. As part of their mission, they focus on specific causes designed to help people achieve a heart-healthy lifestyle. Each of their cause initiatives reaches out to the public with resources and information to help them take positive action.

On behalf of everyone at Ray Catena, we thank you for your participation.

*Offer expires February 28, 2010. Excludes all sublet repairs and cannot be combined with any other offers.

According to the Benz Insider blog, it looks like the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class is making big waves in 2010! Already an award winner in the UK for its noted Attention Assist system, the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class appears to now also be in the running for 2010 World Car of the Year, which will be announced at the Geneva Motor Show next month.  The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class was also nominated in the 2010 World Performance Car of the Year category.  It’s already starting to feel like a great year for Mercedes-Benz.  What are your predictions for the rest of 2010? Leave your thoughts and comments below!

Just off the press! Mercedes-Benz is reportedly working on rolling out different classes of trucks that are EEV (Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicles).  Rumored to be issued as EEV vehicles are the Actros, Axor and Atego.  Read more about the Mercedes-Benz Blue Tec EEV trucks here.

On a different note, we had an awesome time at the Philly Auto Show this week! Naturally, the Mercedes-Benz section was the hottest one there! We especially liked the look of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG with it’s fine Gullwing doors, and slick red interior. Check back next week for some amazing pictures and videos from the event!

It was a blingtastic event for Mercedes-Benz at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon.  The annual car exhibit in Japan was literally a star studded event thanks to Japanese car accesories maker, D.A.D, which debuted a Mercedes SL600 covered with over 300,000 Swarovski crystals.  This Mercedes-Benz truly fits the gold standard.

Source: Telegraph

What are your thoughts on this decked out vehicle? Would you drive this around town?

To us, Mercedes-Benz cars and their owners represent the finest in art, culture, and style.  This idea was solidified at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, where Mercedes-Benz revealed a sculpture that hints at the design future for the CLS four-door coupe.  The sculpture is sleek and classy, and sure gets us pumped about the future of the CLS. Check out the pictures below, courtesy of The Motor Report along with a few quotes by Mercedes Board Chairman Dr. Dieter Zetsche  and Head of Design, Prof Gorden Wagener, concerning rumors about the future of Mercedes-Benz design.

“Creativity and inspiration are always the driving forces behind outstanding engineering achievements,” Dr Zetsche said at Detroit today. “With this work of art, we want to express the characteristic Mercedes-Benz design and, at the same time, convey an impression of our forthcoming new models.”

“To us, automobile design means artistic, aesthetically and sensuously oriented creation,” Head of Design, Prof Gorden Wagener said. “Mercedes-Benz designers translate their artistic inspiration into the modern idiom of Mercedes-Benz automobile design, which combines dramatic details with harmony, style and passion. Mercedes-Benz design is clear, calm and consistent, but emotional and highly sensuous… (and)… best able to present automobile design as an art form in an authentic way.”

Source: Auto Blog

Ask us to pick our favorite Mercedes-Benz products of all time and towards the top of that list sits this: The 1968-1972 300SEL 6.3. Introduced at the 1968 Geneva Motor Show, the original 6.3 was the product of one rogue Mercedes engineer who took the 109-series Type 300 SEL sedan and shoved the Type 600 limo’s 6.3-liter V8 underhood. The heart transplant was good for 250 horsepower, allowed the Teutonic sled to rocket to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds, top out at 136 mph and made it the fastest road-going sedan of the time.

Not only did the 6.3 out accelerate the Porsche 911 S and Jaguar E-Type 4.2, with it’s pneumatic suspension, anti-dive control and four-wheel disc brakes, it could dance as well as it could surge. And of course, Jay Leno has a 1969 example parked in his So. Cal. stable.

During a press event earlier this month, Jay and the Mercedes crew held a little soiree at his “shop” and revealed Leno’s plans to swap in the 6.2-liter V8 from the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG into his 40-year-old sedan. The union of the 300SL and the 563-hp AMG-fettled mill apparently has Mercedes’ blessing, as the automaker’s engineerings are helping Jay with the swap. Naturally, we can’t wait to see and hear the results, and we’d expect a video of the reborn beast to be up in the coming months.

MONTVALE – Mercedes AMG is offering driving enthusiasts a chance to fulfill their dreams of driving top performance vehicles and luxury cars, sharpening their racing skills with the U.S. launch of its AMG Driving Academy. The AMG Driving Academy is an advanced driver training program that allows enthusiasts, under the guidance of top professional instructors, to experience the excitement of motorsports and the track capabilities of Mercedes-AMG vehicles.

Originally founded by AMG in Affalterbach, Germany in 2007, the AMG Driving Academy arrives Stateside in September 2009 and offers an opportunity to get behind the wheel of several AMG models including the all new E63 AMG, SL63 AMG, C63 AMG, SLK55 AMG and the CLK63 AMG Black Series. The program features custom-designed excercises that showcase the dynamic driving capabilitlies of these AMG vehicles across three premier tracks:

Lime Rock Park (Lime Rock, CT) – September 9-15, 2009
Few tracks are as well known and loved. This classic 1.53-mile, 7-turn course, nestled in the Berkshire Mountains of northwest Connecticut continues to challenge some of the world’s best drivers since 1957.

Palm Beach International Raceway (West Palm Beach, FL) – September 22-27, 2009
Boasting an 11-turn, 2.034-mile design, Palm Beach International Raceway road course features some of the fastest and most challenging corners and straightaway’s offered by any track in North America.

Laguna Seca Raceway (Monterey, CA) – November 7-8 & 17-20, 2009
Located in one of North America’s best destination locations — the Monterey Peninsula, Laguna Seca features tremendous elevation changes, the famous Corkscrew complex, and 2.24 sinewy miles.

The AMG Driving Academy launches with two program levels:

• AMG Driving Academy Stage I: A one day program designed to teach the fundamentals of performance driving dynamics and car control maneuvers using customized exercises that emphasize the power and handling capabilities of AMG vehicles. Drivers will also test their skills on the track at high speeds and during performance course competition. The AMG Driving Academy Stage I program fee is $1,895.00 per participant

• AMG Driving Academy Stage I SLS: Drivers attending the AMG Driving Academy Stage One at Laguna Seca Raceway from November 17-20 will have the opportunity to be among the very first to drive the most technologically advanced AMG ever – the all-new 2011 SLS AMG. The AMG Driving Academy Stage 1 SLS program fee is $2,295.00 per participant which includes a one night stay at the InterContinental Hotel in Monterey.

• AMG Driving Academy Stage II: A two-day program that provides a deep level of technical driver training both on and off the track. As an advanced program, Stage 2 is offered to drivers who have completed Stage I or an equivalent course. The program offers significantly more track driving over Stage 1 to extract a driver’s maximum potential in a performance driving setting. A unique feature of Stage II is the use of computer driver training and evaluation through advanced onboard diagnostics and in-car camera recordings of their laps. This program also includes a competitive performance course competition. The AMG Driving Academy Stage II program fee is $3,495.00 per participant.

All fees include a dinner reception and introductory briefing the evening before the program, track hospitality, AMG Driving Academy certificate of program completion and an AMG gift bag. Participants are responsible for travel and accommodations. Additional information and registration for the AMG Driving Academy is available at www.AMGacademy.com or by phone at 1-800-217-6916.