1989 Mercedes-benz 560sl Base Convertible 2-door 5.6l on 2040-cars

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Petrolicious shows Mercedes 280SL as architecture in motion

While still an absolute beauty today, the design of the pagoda-roof W113 Mercedes-Benz SL was revolutionary when it debuted. Moving away from the soft curves of the previous SL models, the all-new generation brought an upright, angular shape that was as much architectural as automotive. In the latest video from Petrolicious, owner and architect Daniel Monti expounds on the inspiration that he gets from his 1969 280SL's fantastic styling. The roof is the most famous design feature of this generation of SL. Look at the top from the front or back, and you can see a gentle, downward arc that evokes the look of a pagoda. That one styling element is also a fabulous counterpoint to a vehicle that is largely more angular than curvaceous. Petrolicious wonderfully illustrates how some of the SL's form-follows-function design aesthetic can be found in the architect's work in this video's heaping helping of mid-century modern goodness.

Daimler employees can set email to auto-delete during vacation

The Internet has shrunk the world in terms of the way people communicate by making it possible to send an email from Oslo and have it show up in Cleveland almost immediately. But that instant contact has wrecked the work/life balance for many. They get home from a long day at the office, yet they can never fully put their feet up and relax because another hour or more of checking and replying to emails awaits. However, German automotive giant Daimler is putting an end to that churn, at least while its employees are on vacation.
About 100,000 Daimler employees in Germany are eligible to opt-in to a new program called Mail on Holiday, according to The Atlantic. When the workers go on vacation, they can switch it on, and the service auto-deletes all of their incoming email. "Our employees should relax on holiday and not read work-related emails," said Wilfried Porth, board member for human resources, to The Financial Times as cited by The Atlantic.
Mail on Holiday puts a thumb on the scale of work/life balance in favor of a little more free time. The system means that Daimler employees shouldn't even be tempted to check their email on vacation because there's nothing there - and it also avoids them coming back from a relaxing holiday only to find a mailbox packed full of hundreds of unread messages. These days, people are absolutely obsessed with their work, often to the detriment of their health, not to mention spending time with their families and friends. On one hand, Mail on Holiday sounds like the sort of vacation breakthrough we'd need to truly unplug and unwind, but on the other hand, it makes our skin crawl just thinking about the lack of communication. What's your perspective? Have your say in Comments.

Jalopnik and Consumer Reports see who can pull off the best snow drift

The weather throughout much of the United States is pretty awful at the moment with some combination of extremely low temperatures, inches of snow and maybe some ice underneath it all. The folks at Jalopnik and Consumer Reports are making the absolute best out of a difficult situation by heading to CR's snow-covered test track and attempting to make the longest drift in a quartet of very different performance vehicles. Jalopnik brought along a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S Wagon, a Subaru WRX STI, a BMW 228i and a 1973 Volkswagen Baja Bug (heck yeah!) for the challenge. Also, the track was perfect for this group, with a mix of packed snow in places and still a few inches of unsullied powder in spots too. Ostensibly the goal was to get the tail to step out through a particular corner, but in reality this was more about having hilarious fun in the snow with fast cars. The result just looks like the best time humanly possible in this weather.