FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Mercedes S-Class Coupe

Mercedes-Benz has released the first sketches of its all-new S-Class Coupe ahead of its international public debut in Frankfurt on Tuesday (September 10), revealing a rakish sports car design that departs significantly from the two-door sedan styling of the CL-Class it will replace.

Based on the redesigned S-Class limousine, which goes on sale in Australia next month, the S-Class Coupe will be available in S 500, S 600, S 63 AMG and S 65 AMG model variants here next year.

Apart from a large Avantgarde grille with oversized three-pointed star badge to replace the limo’s traditional multi-slat Elegance grille and bonnet mascot, the big and sleek luxury two-door features narrower horizontal headlights and LED tail-lights, bigger front air intakes, ‘faster’ front and rear windscreens, more prominent exhaust outlets, a shallower side glass area and longer overhangs than the sedan.

Riding on a shorter wheelbase than the SWB sedan, the S-Class Coupe – seen previously in spy shots from June -- will be one of five S-Class model derivatives, including a convertible and an extra-long-wheelbase Pullman, which will effectively replace the discontinued Maybach super-limo.

Expect the S-Class Coupe concept to morph into a production model for the Detroit or Geneva shows in early 2014, before going on sale globally later next year.