Autoblog

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Here's my issue with NASCAR (and I know I'm in the minority here, based on the sport's immense popularity): I can barely tell one car from another, and as a result, I get bored. Sure, I know who the big guys are and what cars they're supposedly driving, but the fact of the matter is this: the bodies are, to the naked eye, identical-looking. If the cars didn't have stickers to simulate the front fascia of an actual production car, I'd be lost. Monte Carlo SS? Charger? Fusion? Camry? Sure, if you (and the decals) say so. Thank goodness for the production-based classes in ALMS, SPEED World Challenge, Grand-Am and the like, where Vettes, Astons, Mustangs, etc. are completely identifiable.

The Germany-based DTM series also gets it right. Granted, only two marques participate -- Mercedes-Benz and Audi -- but the cars look like the ones they're supposed to be based on, well..because they are. This week in Geneva, Mercedes unveiled its extra-mean-looking new DTM car. In conjunction with the debut of the redone C-Class sedan, the new AMG-prepped DTM car has been similarly brought up-to-date. The C-Class' new beak looks right at home on the wide-bodied A4-hunter, and despite the massive fender flares, aggressive ground effects, and serious rear wing, there's no mistaking it for anything other than a C-Class.

The Germans, it seems, enjoy knowing what the hell it is they're looking at when the cars streak by the stands.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]