This Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class Art Car Is Literally Dripping In Chrome

Over the last few years, Mercedes-Benz has been collaborating with loads of artists and designers to create unique concepts and one-off art cars based on their vehicles. It’s showing no signs of slowing down either, as it just revealed the first of five new art cars that will be revealed this year. They’ll all be based on the recently revealed 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class compact sedan, and based on this first example, they ought to be pretty wild.

It Can’t Handle The Chrome

This first custom CLA was created in partnership with Ice Spice, a musician from New York City. She has released multiple tracks that have gone platinum and has received a few Grammy Award nominations. According to Mercedes, she has “Princess of Rap” jewelry that she’s known for, and that’s the clear theme of this art piece. The entire car is literally dripping in chrome, and so much of it that it seems to be crushing the car, as indicated by the enormous amount of negative camber on the wheels. Hiding under the liquid chrome is additional chrome filigree, and draped over the whole thing is a super-sized version of the “Princess” chain.

The car was revealed at the reopening of the renovated Mercedes-Benz of Manhattan, with Ice Spice in attendance. Ice Spice herself is also releasing a limited-edition run of apparel to go with the collaboration. It includes shirts and even some car accessories such as a license plate frame, keychain, and even fuzzy dice.

The Rest Are Coming Soon

The four other CLA art cars will be shown over the next few months. The next two come from designers. On May 22, interior designer Gustaf Westman’s car will be shown, followed by fashion designer Colm Dillane’s, or KidSuper’s, on June 28. Later on, other brands will show their creations. Designers from Hot Wheels are working on a car, and so are designers from League of Legends. Mercedes hasn’t given dates for these.

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It may seem strange for a car company to partner up with some of these companies and designers, but they’re far from the first. Remember, Mercedes created a concept themed around the Avatar movie series. We’ve also seen some other weird creations, like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class with giant puffy tires from Moncler. Sometimes the results can be exceedingly cool, though, such as the off-road-oriented coupe concept for Maybach designed with the late Virgil Abloh. So, we’ll be looking forward to seeing just what everyone has in store for these custom CLAs.