Christmas is over, the mince pies are a distant memory, the New Year's Eve hangover has subsided and my festive transport has gone. It was a Mercedes A250 Sport and, for the task at hand, it was absolutely fine. It returned 42mpg on the 100 miles back to Ipswich, the enhanced-with-a-few-extras interior was beautiful and it was mostly a nice thing to drive.
Not a bad car, not bad looking either...
Yes, the ride wasn't as settled as it should have been (even on winter tyres) and the gearbox was occasionally a bit lethargic in its responses, but it was a decent car overall. However, I have a rather bigger and more fundamental issue with the A-Class; it just lacks a bit of originality, which the first two cars had in abundance.
With their marvellous packaging, both Mk1 and Mk2 A-Classes were really very innovative cars, tarnished by that elk test and slightly dumpy styling. The latter is certainly not something you could accuse the new car of, but its wantonly generic and formulaic design remains a little disappointing.
And it's hardly compromise-free either. That chunky C-pillar and narrow rear windscreen can make manoeuvring more awkward than it should be, for example.
... but the cleverness of the old car is gone
But criticising Mercedes for making the A-Class more mainstream is of course a churlish complaint as it has to respond to buyer demand. If the public want a regular hatch devoid of much originality then unfortunately that's what has to be made. Having said that, I want to stand up for the appealing engineering curios that people just didn't want.
You knew I was going to say Audi A2 next, didn't you? The futuristic little supermini just gets more relevant by the year, its lightweight construction and super efficient diesels so much more intriguing than the A1's bland mix of mini-me styling and 'normal' engineering. That the first Honda Insight morphed into the second gen car for presumably similar reasons is equally frustrating.
One more thing on Honda. In 1998, the range-topping Civic looked rather dull but had independent suspension at all four corners and a limited-slip differential. Ten years later the Type R had neither. But it looked well wicked, and that's what sells.
A2 to A1 shows it's been done before too
Or does it? The Ford Ka has never been a particularly advanced car, but the first car still looks remarkably fresh given its approaching 20 years old and was popular. The next one never really matched it on any score. Autocar revealed Ford's
Mk3 Ka concept
last month; intended as a global car it's as dull as ditchwater but has to appeal everywhere, particularly those with more conservative tastes. Shame.
I can understand why Mercedes had to change the A-Class, but that doesn't mean I especially like it. Perhaps that's why the VW XL1 appeals so much as its engineering is so clever and the design so fresh. Oh, it costs how much you say? Perhaps there is something to be said for following convention then.
