The A-Class hatch, sedan and B-Class might all debut in the first half of 2018. When they enter production, their engines might make the CLA obsolete.
Obviously, Mercedes will not leave us hanging for too long, as an all-new CLA is reportedly on its way, much bigger and more luxurious than the first one. However, the Shooting Brake isn't making a comeback.
Despite being praised for its cool design, the CLA wagon is being discontinued, along with the CLS version. We're going to blame the rise in popularity of the SUV for that.
To be honest, the CLA Shooting Brake's demise doesn't make us want to buy one, like the Scirocco, there's one version that will be missed: the 45 AMG version. It's been around since before you had to put the AMG at the beginning of the name.
We still remember quite fondly how we played with the drive modes and flappy paddles until we got it to launch. And it was worth it, as at the time, this type of performance from a 2-liter engine still felt crazy.
If you want a little sample of what we got over two years ago, here's a couple of videos from the guys at AutoTopNL. They maxed the car on the autobahn and got it all the way to 270 km/h.
The interior can be seen in the POV clip and looks odd. Sure, it's got the usual Mercedes luxury, but there are way too many buttons scattered over the dashboard. We still think the parking brake is in the wrong place, but at least you don't have to deal with the column-mounted shifter on the AMG.
The name "Shooting Brake" originates from a horse cart used to carry hunters and their guns. But today, we use it to describe every wagon that's a little sexier than average.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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