Number of cylinders: 12
Service history: Present

Mercedes-Benz CL-Klasse 600 V12 (W215), 2004. Three owners, 66,748 km, service books from new.

There is a misconception that the pinnacle of Mercedes was to be found mostly in the S-Class. Not quite true. The real statement, the car the engineers in Stuttgart poured their finest work into and the board their egos, was the CL. The coupé without a B-pillar, built on the platform of the S but without the drag of rear doors, without the compromise of "we also need to be able to ferry a cabinet minister in it." The CL was for the man who drove himself, and who wanted the best. Full stop.

And within that CL family there was another hierarchy. At the bottom the 500 with its V8, tidy, more than enough. And then at the top, all on its own, wearing a badge that whispered "V12" and kept quiet about "two turbos": the CL 600. Six litres. Twelve cylinders. And a torque figure that stood out mainly because you never heard it, only felt it, somewhere deep in the pit of your stomach when the motorway was empty and you briefly forgot you were sitting in a car of almost two tonnes and two metres wide.

I have always had a soft spot for the W215. Not because it shouts, because it never does. In fact, the remarkable thing about a CL 600 is precisely that it stays silent. Where an Italian delivers a crescendo you would need a season ticket to the Royal Albert Hall for, this twelve-cylinder does the opposite. It whispers. A soft, civilised murmur, and then suddenly you are fifty kilometres per hour faster without a shred of drama being involved. That is the art. Violence disguised as comfort.

The story continues on our website, where the full file is kept as well. 103 photographs including the underside. The service history, scanned in full. Paint thickness measured panel by panel. The original factory brochure to page through. A timeline from 30 June 2005 to today, with every owner and the mileage year by year in a single graph.

Every car here follows the same route: first pre-market, then the showroom, and finally the live auction on our own site. What changes is the way you buy, not the location — once a car has arrived, it stays with us in Katwijk. This one is in the showroom and you are welcome to come and see it, no appointment needed. You buy it here at a fixed price: no bidding, no waiting. Our showroom in Katwijk, 30 km from Amsterdam Schiphol, is open Mon–Fri 9–18 and Sat 10–17. Call ahead and it will be standing ready, with someone free for you.

Within the EU no customs duty arises on this purchase. Registration tax and registration costs in your own country are not included. We supply the export documents and assist with the registration. The price shown is the full price for collection in Katwijk. We arrange insured door-to-door transport worldwide, cost quoted per destination beforehand.

Prefer a different colour or specification than this example? Tell us what you are looking for — another Mercedes-Benz we can often find through our network of marque specialists and collectors, outside the listings. Have one of your own: we buy exceptional cars outright, classic or modern.

Our showroom measures 6,000 m², with over 150 cars under one roof. You are just as welcome if you are not buying — walk around, take your time and enjoy the cars; sharing the enthusiasm is half of it.