Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake review

Here’s the surprise. You have relatively low expectations of practicality because of the swoopy styling, but then you open the boot (only you don’t have to, it’s electric) and it’s genuinely big. OK, so the narrow aperture is not Ikea-friendly, but everything else about the Shooting Brake is thoroughly family-friendly – including three seats across the back, instead of the pair in the saloon. The driving environment isn’t maybe as modern and digital as those offered in equivalent Audis and BMWs, but it’s beautifully constructed.

Mercedes offers a beautifully engineered wood floor for the boot; very expensive icing on the cake if you want a load space that's more for looking at than it is loading stuff into.