Mercedes C-Class wagon is nearly ready for the school run

The next C-Class has been spotted plenty of times already in sedan form, and for the most part, it looks a lot like a small S-Class. But there's another body style that has since been spotted, a C-Class wagon that one of our spies photographed outside Mercedes-Benz' research and development center in Germany. Despite the camouflage, the wagon looks close to being ready for production.

From the tip of the front grille to just before the rear wheels, the wagon looks the same as the sedan. Though the sides of the wagon are disguised, we imagine the character lines hidden underneath are the same as those on the sedan, which received similar camouflage until we spotted one without it in late August.

The bulk of the wagon's camouflage is, unsurprisingly, at the rear, where Mercedes has done a good job of concealing styling details. We'll state the obvious first: in its transformation from sedan to wagon, the car gets a lengthened roof, a hatch and a more accommodating loading area. What's not so obvious is the shape of the taillights, which has changed in the transformation. The sedan's taillights are contained to the rear of the quarter panels, but the wagon's rear lamps appear to have less of an upward slope to them and now occupy space on both the hatch and the quarter panels. Additionally, the rear passenger doors' quarter glass is covered, which suggests that it also is undergoing changes.

We've suggested that the C-Class sedan will make its debut early next year at the Detroit Auto Show, but we've also heard that it could be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March. The C-Class wagon likely will make its debut late next year, in October, at the Paris Motor Show.