Top four-door coupes 04/28/2011
For many years, coupes were almost exclusively two-door vehicles - and many purists will argue that they need only feature two seats as well. However, drivers soon began wanting to have it all when they purchased a luxury vehicle, not wanting to sacrifice space for performance.
Enter the four-door coupe. These models provide the roominess of a sedan, and drivers with families will be able to fit the whole gang into the car. Yet it can still eat up highway like nobody's business. Sure, drivers sacrifice a bit in aerodynamics over the normal coupe, but the recent popularity of these models has proven that the four-door coupe is here to stay.
Mercedes-Benz CLS550
This is the car that many credit with inventing the genre, although there were a few obscure models in the sixties that Mercedes may have borrowed from. Still, the CLS550 is considered to be the pre-eminent four-door coupe, although it may not be the most powerful. Following Mercedes' lead, nearly every luxury manufacturer got into the game with their own offerings. The CLS550 and it's performance-tuned sibling, the CLS63 AMG, are both due for a redesign this year, so keep your eye out.
Porsche Panamera
It's a vehicle that has divided the Porsche purists - people who never thought that the company would make anything without two doors. Even when the Cayenne SUV hit showrooms, these old-school Porsche fans by justify it by saying that the coupes would always be two-door. Yet the Panamera is nothing to be ashamed of, a true beast of a car that has sold well for the company at its $75,000 price point.
Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S
This is the "go big or go home" model that blows the other four-door coupes off the road. It's by no means cheap - it'll cost $135,000 - but you get everything. Seating for five, a turbocharged V8 producing 433 horsepower, and just about every feature you can think of standard, with all the trimmings.