Baby Merc

2011 Mercedes-Benz Concept A

You thought the C-Class was the baby of the Merc family? Hah! Think again. Say hello to the future of compact cars: the Mercedes-Benz Concept A. The A-Class has been a popular compact over in Europe and Mercedes-Benz is now ready to ship this car over here. You can see that the car borrows some styling from the new CLS and some from the R-Class even. But, most of the swoopy lines are Concept A standard. Under the hood is Mercedes' own 2.0-liter 210 horsepower BlueEfficiency turbodiesel engine mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission with the power going straight to the front wheels, making this Mercedes' first front-Wheel drive car ever to be shipped to the States in a while. Other than power and style, this car boasts luxury in every word. Inside the seats are leather and have been fitted for comfort. There are also safety systems destined to be the first of its kind to debut. For example, if you pair the Adaptive Brake Assist with Mercedes' new radar-based collision-detection system, you'll have fewer chances of rear ending your new A-Class. This car will hit both Shanghai and New York this week so you'll have two chances to see it live. For me, only one chance since I prefer driving in my Rover than flying in a Boeing. But anyway, other than its compact form, this car looks fantastic. I hope the production version looks as good as this.