de autos cars

When I started TireKicking professionally back in the late 90s, my favorite Mercedes was the CLK 350. Well-built, smooth and slick...nice lines, and, with the 350's lighter six instead of the 430's heavy V8 over the front wheels, beautifully balanced.

Over time, the CLK lost its allure...as did the entire Mercedes line when it went chasing volume at the expense of quality.

Well, the good news is that there's mounting evidence that Benz is back...and intent on building the best-engineered automobiles to a standard rather than a price.

The CLK convertible lives on, but the coupe is now part of the E-Class.

I mean, just look at the pictures above. It's gorgeous.


And once inside, you're not let down...the car reinforces the "good choice" vibe every inch of the way.

Cheap? No. Just barely reasonable, really...at $48,050...and lightly optioned at $54,245. But it's how good the car is that carries it off.

For your money, you get looks, style, quality, performance (0-60 in 6.2 seconds) and reasonable (17 city/26 highway) fuel economy. And, thanks to M-B no longer chasing market share above all else, you'll be driving something different...you won't see three just like yours driving home every night.

Even in a recession, there's a place for high quality and true luxury. $50,000 Chevy Tahoes are out...but there'll always be a place for a car like this.

Watch the pretty blonde lady take a test drive in her mind in this slick Mercedes-Benz official video: