Now Mercedes-Benz has really pissed me off. A week or two back I chronicled Lexus’ inability to capitalize on the potential of its designers, and now Mercedes has gone and done the same thing.  I looked at the supposed “preview” of the new 2010 Mercedes E-class, called the ConceptFASCINATION (on the left), with hopeful eyes when it appeared in Paris in October. Could a Mercedes design really look that good? That coherent? Then Mercedes went to production with what you see on the right. I understand that the production model is a family sedan, not a two-door shooting brake, but still. It’s a heart-wrenchingly diluted production model, especially when you head around to the back. Follow the jump to see what I mean.

The back-end on the ConceptFASCINATION looked so good that you wanted to make love to the quad exhaust tips just stand there and admire it all day. The back-end of the production E-class is deserving of a paper bag. Maybe two. The striated muscle-look of the concept was aggressive and just plain sexy, while the thing we’ll see on our snowy roads is sadly reminiscent of the 2009 Mitsubishi Galant. 

Expect to see the 2010 E-class with a similar set of V6 and V8 engines as the ones currently available. I’m hoping that the wagon (and shooting brake, please) and the AMG models will iron out some of the wrinkles. 

Until then, you’ve let us down Mercedes. Stop squandering your creativity.