Mercedes says the taillamps of the new E-Class Coupé announced last week look like the glow of a jet engine thanks to advancements made in crystal optics (LEDs are so 2008…). Inside the cabin the air vents are supposed to take the form inspired by turbine jet engines, too. But the car’s biggest styling highlight is its clean, pillarless profile for an uninterrupted, elegant line. In fact Mercedes-Benz’s designers are quite self congratulatory with regard to the lack of a B-pillar.

Except the engineers then went and stuck on two C-pillars defeating the whole purpose — the stylists’ proposal unfortunately didn’t work since their imagination created a pillarless window design with a rear window that wouldn’t have been able to wind down. Apart from that glaring flaw (the double C-pillar is one of those things you can’t unsee) the E-Class Coupé is not a bad looker. The new car will premiere at the Detroit motor show in a couple of weeks, featuring all the kit we’ve come to love in the latest W213 generation E-Class. That means a pair of 12.3in Comand displays, a multifunctional wheel with finger-swipe controls, and semi-autonomous driving capabilities.

For the interior of the Coupé, along the saloon and the estate the third body style available in the E-Class range, customers can choose from two new wood trim options in a natural grain. For the exterior there is an available Sport Package, which adds more aggressive bumpers, side skirts, and bigger AMG wheels.

The car is longer, wider, and taller than its predecessor with a longer wheelbase, too, which frees up more legroom, headroom and shoulder room.

At launch next year, buyers can choose from rear-drive or all-wheel drive, with E 400 Coupés packing a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 for 329bhp and 480Nm of torque. The slightly lighter rear-drive model sprints from 0-100kph three-tenths quicker than the all-wheel drive car, with a time of 5.2 seconds. Top speed for both is electronically limited to 210kph.