Although few would debate the beauty of Mercedes-Benz’s CLS-class, the company’s classification of the car as a “four-door coupe” has drawn snickers and rolling eyes from many in the industry. If you thought the four-door coupe was a laughable idea, then prepare for a debilitating hernia. BMW is calling the X6 concept it unveiled in Frankfurt “the world’s first sports activity coupe.” Let the debate begin here.
Never mind that coupes used to have two doors or used to be cars. Coupes are now all about the roofline. If the roof slopes, it must be a coupe. If a tree falls in the woods and lands on the back of a school bus, is the resulting wreckage a coupe?
Although the front end bears a strong resemblance to the X5 with which it shares a platform, closer examination reveals a more tightly puckered kidney-bean grille, squintier headlights, and larger air intakes carved into the front fascia—not to mention the more steeply raked windshield—for a more aggressive look than the upright X5.
BMW’s words on the X6’s engine are only that we “can rightly expect [it] to be particularly powerful.” To that cryptic statement we’d like to add the recent speculation about a possible V-10-powered X5 M. Notice that the front fascia of the X5 M recently captured by our spies is a dead wringer for the lower fascia of the concept X6. We would agree that the V-10’s 500 horsepower qualify as “particularly powerful.” Could it be? BMW isn’t talking, so we’ll have to wait to find out.
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