classic car

  When we Americans think of Mercedes-Benz, a picture of an E-Class or an SLR Mclaren comes to mind almost invariably. Here in the gas-guzzling U.S. of A, Mercedes-Benz is a maker mid-size and large premium sedans, coupes, roadsters, and SUVs, but the picture is very different in Europe. Mercedes-Benz makes a total of four models that we don't have here in the US, and all of them are very different from the Benzes we know and love.

  Across the pond in the land where Diesel compacts rule the roads, Mercedes-Benz offers two sub-C Class compact cars, a compact coupe (an evolution of the demised C230 coupes that were offered in the US for a few years), and a minivan. There there is also the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and other commercial vans. Does the name sound familiar? If you consider the fact the MB was partnered with Chrysler, the truth comes all too clear if you didn't know already. Yep, our "American" Dodge and Freightliner Sprinters are really a re-badged Germans that avoided pesky taxes by being shipped in parts to the US and assembled here with the manufacturer of choice's badge slapped on the front. Ah, badge engineering.

  But enough about that, lets move on to the models that are sold as passenger cars, as the Sprinter is only a civilian car in a customized camper form. There are two compacts in the MB lineup that aren't here in the US, the A-class and B-class. The A-Class, a small premium hatch that comes in 3 and 5-door forms starting at a bad space-to-dollar rate of $21,453, is the epitome of a crowded-city luxury car. It has sold in huge numbers, almost 2 million since its launch in 1999, and if it was brought to the US it may become a toy for the obsessively rich to have when they're trying to look environmentally conscious. The problem, though, is that they packed the car so full of technical features for a car its small size that they met their price point way before they could focus on a full-luxury interior. The result is an interior that resembles the configuration of the Volkswagen Jetta with the leatherette package, with hard, but not low-quality plastics in some places and leather in others. The exterior, like some other Euro MB products, has not switched over to the new, more mean-looking grille yet, so it looks relatively out-or date from the front, even though a recent facelift made it more modern from the side. With power ranging from 140 to 193 HP, the A-Class is not something for speedy runs or people like Jay Leno and the Sultan of Brunei (though I wouldn't be surprised if he had one), but its more of a car for relatively well-off city-dwellers that can't stand cloth seats.

  The B-Class, introduced in 2005 and updated in 2008, is based on the A-Class architecture. It was originally intended to go on sale as the Base Benz in the US, but plans were scrapped for that and it is now sold virtually everywhere but the US, including Canada. The B-Class starts at $27,648, and like the A-Class it virtually dwarfs the price of everything else in its category. It's like a minivan shaped compact with regular doors, which MB calls a Multi-Activity vehicle, mimicking BMW's weird names such as Sport Activity Coupe for the X6. Interestingly, the higher-priced and larger B-Class has less power than its smaller brother, with rates ranging from 94 (!) to 190 Horsepower, which is at best 3 less than the A-Class' ratings. There's not much more to say about the B-Class because its essentially a more expensive A-Class with more space, more modern looks, and less power. The interior is slightly higher-rent with more leather and less plastic, and it has room for some cargo even with kids inside, which says a lot in Europe.

  Next up is a car you may know from a few years back, with the C230 coupe, a try by Mercedes-Benz at launching one of their cheaper models in the US. It started at around $25,000 in 2003, and they sold well for what they were, a cheap Mercedes-Benz. After that one venture, MB pulled the coupe out of the US and its now only sold overseas, where it is known as the CLC-Class. It now starts at $28,211 in current exchange rates, making it the cheapest and smallest MB coupe in Europe, as opposed to the $48,050 E-Class Coupe here in the States. There have only been minor changes since the C230 was taken out of the US with a minor refreshing including the new-style grille and wheel options, and the rear shape remains in its quirky half-hatchback form. The refreshing was to hide that its still based on the last-gen C-Class sedan, so the mechanical aspects of it aren't exactly thrilling and up-to-date. In fact, there is a new CLC-Class scheduled to be coming soon to replace the current coupe. The interior has leather as an option, but the overall quality is good. The horsepower ratings go from 120-268, a margin of 70 horsepower over the compacts.

  The last car that Europe gets we may not want at all. You see, this is basically a giant, boxy, Japanese-style minivan. Called the Viano, this van scraps the (insert letter here)-Class naming system, and for good reason. This is a completely different Mercedes-Benz than we know. I mean, how do the words "Mercedes-Benz" and "minivan" go in the same sentence? Yet again, it worked in Wisconsin for Buick, why shouldn't it work in Europe for Mercedes-Benz? Any Minivan that starts at $36,514 has to be luxurious and up to date, right? Well, according to Whatcar.com, it's very flexible for different types of families, with two wheelbase and three body length options, but "It's an expensive option, whose van roots show through in some areas. The engines are noisy and it's not easy to use the car’s full versatility, as the seats are heavy if you want to remove them." The horsepower ratings, though you'd hardly look at that in a minivan, range from 116 to 258, and of course the material quality is superb, but it's not anywhere near the most versatile and smart option in a minivan.

  I spotted the Porsche Carrera S on a trip to Chicago a year ago.

  This Viper RT/10 was a one-time shower at the Howard, WI A&W Cruisin' Nights.

  If you're not familiar with my story about this car, go to http://bit.ly/grantur

  This Ford coupe, like the Viper, was another local find.

  On a trip to Madison, WI, I couldn't identify this truck at first.

  When the Chevy Volt concept appeared on the 2007 NAIAS show floor, it drew much interest, though not as much as the Camaro concept, which manifested itself as the production Camaro this year. It was also a footnote compared to such cars that never happened such as the Ford Interceptor and Chrysler Nassau. But now, with electric technology being embraced by millions of people who don't care about driving experience and our government, many are taking a look at the Volt that they didn't before.

  What they see isn't what they glanced at on the Detroit show floor, to say the least. Almost every aspect of styling, many suppliers, and some technology has changed since the introduction of the concept, and now the Volt just looks like a wide Malibu instead of a muscular, if odd, sedan. Perhaps this is a good thing. The old styling was very controversial, with inoperable windows that kept extending down past the body line and rear-end styling that seems to remind me faintly of the Toyota IQ. Not to mention the fact that many of the features wouldn't have been street-legal. But Chevy wouldn't have got our attention with a boring sedan as a concept, right? So they gave us something that the Chevy Camaro may have been in sedan form if it wouldn't have gone the Mustang retro route.

  Now, looking back, that front end looks too sparse in comparison to the Hulking new designs seen on GMC, Lincoln, and Cadillac cars and is a bit out of date. The new car, though much more boring, seems more modern.  When the production-bodied Chevy Volt was revealed it wasn't exactly a party day by anyone's standards. But I think the styling of the new car has merit. It looks cleaner, less quirky, more practical, and altogether more modern. Safety standards come into effect here, mandating larger headlights, eliminating the inoperable windows, which wouldn't have worked anyways from a stylistic or practical standpoint, and making some structural changes. Some other changes include Suppliers for many components, some of which haven't even been secured by this point. Currently GM is expecting more demand than supply, and hopefully they won't destroy them like they did to the EV-1, which took its name from the more stylistically daring 1985 Saab Concept, which used solar panels to power cooling and heating fans.

  There are many different things the Selby Cobra did for America. It was competitive in world races at a time when the Ford GT40 was shunned as being too British, winning major events in a landslide. Many have tried to repeat the success of such a homegrown machine, but so far none have succeeded. Unless you count the numerous continuations, kit cars, modern interpretations, and freelance designs that have popped up over the years, which brings me to the subject of this article.

  The first thing that you think of after thinking of the original Cobra is most likely the numerous kit cars out there. From the name brands that offer accurately enough styled kits with (often Chevy) V-8 underpinnings, to the companies that make sub-par recreations based off of Civics and Fieros, they all have one thing in common. No wait make that two things. They all try to recreate the original Cobra and try to come up with names that won't get Carrol Shelby on their heels with lawsuits. From Factory Five Racing to Superformance to Street Beasts, these kits are everywhere. I think that one writer, who I can't recall at the moment has it right, saying that if we were wiped out and beings discovered the remains one day, it would seem like Cobras were the most-bought car on Earth, and the ones with the Shelby ID numbers would just be thought of as another brand that sold them. One thing I object to in these kits is the common use of Chevy 350 V-8s. I mean, if you want an automobile that drives like a Cobra, looks like a Cobra, and doesn't make you look like an idiot when you're hood is opened up, you better put an authentic Ford 260, 289, or 427 in it. I know that you could fill up the entire internet with comments to the contrary and moans about Ford part supply, but that's just my viewpoint.

  The second type of modern Cobra I'd like to discuss in this post are the ones that are made to be modern supercar version the car, such as the Iconic GTR, the AC MK VI, or the car shown above, the Gardner Douglas G350. All of these but the Iconic have LS-series Corvette motors, where the Iconic GTR has a clean-sheet motor designed by the company itself. GM Performance Parts probably wouldn't exist but for numerous kit cars and homegrown supercars. These cars are costly to develop, and many a company has gone down in flames with not one of their cars sold. AC itself, the nameplate for the Cobra depending on who you ask and the basic provider for the car Carrol needed to get it all started in the first place, is struggling to get by and its recent history is even more dramatic than the history of Vector, with many tales of fleeing from countries and several court cases tied to one event. Iconic has more hope of succeeding, backed up by the fact that they've got money behind them and a car that was developed completely in-house.

  There are also many artists' dreams out there. From furniture to auto proposals, there's always some dreamer out there rendering the next Cobra. Here's one of my favorites done by Vaughan Ling, a college student who's done lots of rendering work, and in a weird coincidence, has a Datsun 240Z like mine, dash cracks, missing stereo and all. His idea is different than many, going about things the way the retro Mustang does. You can see his other work on his blog, http://vaughanling.blogspot.com/, but the subject of this is his 2009 Cobra Concept. He doesn't want to make a complete copy, but he wants to copy the essence of the car without mimicking it (I'm talking about you, Dodge Challenger!) or copying it outright. His idea is more extreme than Iconic, more extreme than Gardner Douglas, making the Cobra look modern.

  We can be sure that there will always be fake Cobras, new Cobras, continuation Cobras, modern interpretations of Cobras, etc., but I still hold firm to my belief that nothing beats the sheer driving feeling of the originals, The AC Shelby Cobra 260, 289, and 427 that dominated their day.