This unassuming building is like Mary Poppins’ bag for Mercedes-Benz vehicles. If you’ve got a Mercedes of any vintage, you can get any factory part you need from the Classic Center–literally.

Don’t let the autopilot take over full-time; you’ll miss out on the exhilarating rush from the 5.5 liter double overhead cam V8 under the hood.

The addictive roar from the quad tailpipes is accompanied by a sledgehammer blast of acceleration, barely held in check by the stability control. There is nothing to hold back the involuntary mad-scientist laughter that will tear itself from your throat when this happens.

Good news!  The traffic-stopping looks and technological wizardry of the $92,000 Mercedes CL500 coupe are now available in a smaller, more convenient package!

That is in no way hyperbole, either.  Last year’s CLK was an excellent car, a perfect wallflower that would take you to the most expensive restaurant in town in style and then beat the pants off of a Ford Mustang GT on the way home.  That car’s still here, under the surface, but now it’s drop-dead gorgeous.  We think the new CLK500 is one of the best-looking cars …

A long hood and bold two-bar Mercedes family grille give this vehicle a more assertive look than the snub-nosed ML-Class, and if the upright windshield makes it look a bit like a Subaru Forester in formal wear, that’s not an entirely bad thing.

So it’s Saturday night, and my wife isn’t home.  I decide it’s a good night to rent a “guy” movie of the sort she normally doesn’t like to watch, with lots of explosions and bad dialogue.  I go outside, hop into the Mercedes SLK32 AMG I’ve got to test this week, and head for the video store, which is about a mile away.  And then a voice, maybe it’s the car’s, murmurs something about putting the top down.  It’s a nice night, after all, and there’s a full moon…
Seventy-five minutes …

How tough is the Mercedes G500?
When the inattentive teen in the gargantuan Chevy Suburban pulled out of Home Depot’s lot and into the path of the big Mercedes SUV I was driving, I braked as hard as I could.  My imagination immediately pictured the ensuing collision, which I expected would put some deep scratches in the G500 and reduce the Suburban to an acre of navy-blue metal confetti.

It wasn’t a completely absurd expectation, either.  The G500, officially available in the United States for the first time this year (versions were …

With the new Mercedes C230 Sports Coupe’s surprisingly low price, there are bound to be a lot of drivers new to Mercedes running around out there in the next year or so.  To those Mercedes neophytes:  Welcome!  You’re about to learn what that three-pointed star is all about.  Even though it’s at the bottom of the lineup, the C230 Sports Coupe doesn’t lack for any of the qualities that make a Mercedes what it is.

As part of Mercedes’ attempt to broaden its appeal in the US, the C230 Sports Coupe’s …

For a long time, the biggest reason for buying a Mercedes C-Class was that it was the cheapest way to get into a new Mercedes.  It wasn’t quite as luxurious, or as impressive sitting at the curb; it was more of a stepping stone on the way to bigger, better Benzes.  That’s no longer the case.  With the new all-new C-Class for 2001, Mercedes has made its junior series an automotive destination, rather than part of the journey.

Two models start the lineup; the C240 and the C320.  Both are sedans, …

Two things happened during the Mercedes ML430’s visit with me that allowed the luxury SUV to show off its best qualities.  First, my mother-in-law came to visit.  Then, while we were showing her around town, there was a violent hailstorm.  Mercedes couldn’t have planned it better.

Mercedes’ M-Class is became known as the “minivan of SUVs,” thanks to its high, slab-sided look and passenger-friendly interior.  It also brings Mercedes’ legendary reliability and quality.  The ML430 slots neatly into the middle of the lineup between the ML320 and ML55 AMG.  Its closest …