The Mercedes-Benz march of new models took another step forward this week with the arrival of two seriously niched models to replace the very pretty C-Class Sports Coupe - the CLC 200K and the CLC 350.
Further back in the parade that has seen eight new models this year, but coming around the corner soon, are the new A-Class and B-Class and an upgraded M-Class - recession, what recession!
The CLC joins the CL - described by Ekhart Mayer, Mercedes divisional manager in South Africa, as "the masterpiece of 50 years of Mercedes-Benz tradition" - the CLS (though a four-door, it still claims to fly under the coupe badge) and the CLK which includes the mighty 63 AMG Black, a limited run of 500 vehicles of which, amazingly, 40 will find homes in South Africa.
"No other brand has a coupe to match Mercedes," Meyer added. "It's a stand-alone model but positioned as a member of our coupe family. The range will continue to grow and become classics of tomorrow."
Certainly this model will have a special place in the Mercedes pantheon: it's the first to be assembled in Brazil! We told you most of the stuff about it back in January this year.
While "new" in the sense that it's a new badge, the CLC is not an all-new car. It's based on the Sport Coupe from the previous C-Class that was launched back in 2001 and which, Meyer said, attracted a whole new set of buyers from among younger successful people - "we hope the new model will do the same".
The car is described as "compelling entry level" for the Mercedes coupe family with base prices set at
Mercedes CLC 200K - R335 000
Mercedes CLC 350 - R405000
and comes with 1100 new parts and two petrol engines that claim to be more fuel-efficient than their predecessors. There's also a shopping-list of optional extras for some young, successful buyers who are more successful than others.
Among them are a sports package for the 200K (standard on the 350) but also included for the smaller-engined car are parking radar, side crash bags, cellphone kit, COMAND satnav and its screen which includes a radio and CD-player, bi-xenon headlights with cornering swivels, Harmon Kardon audio, power adjustment for the front seats, steering column and external mirrors, auto aircon and a power sliding sunroof.
Which, if you take them all, will zap close to R100 000 on to your bill though the Parktronic system and the auto gear box are also standard on the 350. It will add R13 000 to the price of the 200K.
The 200K comes with a mix of cloth and leather upholstery - full leather will add R10 500 and metallic paint on either car another R1800.
Two engines, each new to South Africa, power the CLC. The smaller, four-cylinder, is a 1.8-litre supercharged unit capable of 135kW at 5500rpm and 250Nm from 2800-5000rpm with a top speed of 235km/h and a 0-100km/h time of 8.6sec.
Six-speed manual
The larger is a 3.5-litre V6 harbouring 200kW at 6000rpm and 350Nm from 2400-500rpm with a governed top speed of 250km/h and a 0-100km/h time of 6.3sec. No diesel version will be coming - and neither will an AMG conversion for the CLC - mainly because the cars will not be sold in the US so the low numbers make the more powerful engines uneconomical for production and, more importantly, parts supply.
The 200K comes with a six-speed manual gearbox with the option of a R13 000 five-speed auto. The 350 is only available with Mercedes' superb 7G-Tronic auto transmission that can also be controlled with paddles on the steering column; its seamless changes have to be experienced to be fully comprehended.
The 200K rides (as standard) on 16" alloys shod with 205/55 rubber and the 350 - as part of the sport package - gets 17" alloys with 225/45 tyres front and 245/40 at the rear. A re-usable deflated spare with a gas cylinder is standard though the boot, with the rear seats folded, can still take 1100 litres of luggage.
The two-door shell is supremely rigid. The launch event test route went a trifle haywire on Thursday thanks to some (human) mis-programming of the Garmin satnav system in most of the cars - instead of an all-tar route from Knysna to Oudtshoorn and back we were directed on a route I last did on a Ford launch - a Ford bakkie launch!
Tough and unintended
You might like to do it yourself sometime - the Mercedes coupes absorbed the punishment of Prince Alfred's Pass that leaves the N2 just east of Knysna and runs for much of its 69km distance through virgin forest and river valleys via the villages of Kruisvallei, Die Vlug and Avontuur before leaving the potholed and treacherous (thanks to heavy rain) dirt and joining the N9 at Uniondale.
It was a tough, if unintended, test of the cars' structural integrity. We took some heavy thumps to the suspension, even though our speed rarely crept above 60km/h on the muddy trail, but not a rattle or a creak - just a "bring it on" feeling as we watched for washaways, logging trucks and goats.
Even though the CLC is "entry level" as far as the coupe family is concerned, it still comes with a comprehensive package of standard equipment, such as power windows, anti-lock brakes and traction control, stability control, auto aircon, central locking, cruise control, first-aid kit, front and rear foglights and auto headlights, heatable external mirrors, multi-function steering wheel, front and side-front crash bags and seat-belt pre-tensioners, trip data computer and sports suspension.