Much has been made of the new Mercedes CLA’s affordability. Maybe that would have meant something if Mercedes-Benz had the reputation it had up to about 1990 or so. But hey, it has that classic Mercedes star on it, so who cares? If you’re looking for snob appeal on an even leaner budget, then head on down to your local MB dealer and pick up one of these babies!
Yessireebob, the 2014 CLS050 matches Mercedes prestige with a fuel-efficient yet potent 3-cylinder Kompressor engine, four wheel ceramic disc brakes, GPS and all the interior gadgets you want. And all for just 19,999! But better hurry, because “Mercedes Cimarron” jokes are already flying, and the model may not be on the market long!
Thanks are due to Cohort Contributor williamrubano, who captured the first one I’ve ever seen! Kinda looks like a Geo Metro, though…
That’s because it IS a Metro.!
Count me in! I’ve got a Mercedes hood ornament and a nice drill, so I think I can turn a certain Ford E-150 into Mercedes people mover, although shouldn’t I change the name to something 540E? Or E540?
Since we have established this, can one now take a fuel injected ’81 Imperial and call it a 318i?
Daimler has identified the same market as The Aston Martin Cygnet. I’m headed over to Amazon to order some prancing horse decal for my 500. It’s made by the same company…
Already done for you:
https://www.google.com/search?q=fiat+500+tributo+ferrari&rlz=1C1CHNY_enUS483US483&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=LWyRUoHNIYihsQTQuIHABw&ved=0CFoQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=798
Every now and then, you’ll see an example of an owner that is way too enamored with their bottom feeder car and has way too much time on their hands. They’re usually pimped-out with automobile accessories supplied by Big Lots and JC Whitney, though.
I recently saw a pimped out Accord. Along with many other googaws, the owner had pained the front brake calipers red. The rear wheels had drum brakes, but that didn’t stop him. He painted the drums red.
But at least he loves his car. We can all relate to that, I suspect.
I love this. Too funny.
Hey, don’t just limit this to cars. I’m going to buy a bunch of Mercedes emblems, and put them on everything I own. I’ll have a Mercedes bicycle, a Mercedes coffee table and a Mercedes toothbrush. Why the heck not?
Reminds me when Jeep sold child strollers with “Jeep” badges all over them.
Hey, why not?
Except for the toothbrush. The pot metal on that three-pointed star would probably tear up your gums somethin’ awful. 😉
Oh dear, so there is something worse than people putting “M5” badges on their 525i (they’re not fooling anyone with both badges).
I don’t consider this nearly as bad because it’s clearly (at least to me) meant as a joke. Fake go-fast badges? not so much.
I also take this to be not a boast, but just a joke: one that’s harmless and mildly amusing. I admire the chutzpah of adding not just the three-pointed stars, but also the AMG upgrade. That’s really pushing the gag.
I’ve mentioned on here before, on a post about the Isuzu Trooper II, that a dearly departed eccentric friend of mine put Jaguar badging all over his well-used Trooper. Not because he thought anybody would believe it; just to see if anybody would notice… and maybe mess with a few heads. I remember him telling me on the phone when he had just done installed them, but don’t think he ever did tell me what reactions he got from it (or if anybody even noticed). Then, a couple of years later, cancer got him, so now it’s too late to ask.
This is actually a very rare car that was the result of an experimental joint venture between GM and Daimler Benz. Daimler was looking for a new outlet for a small A-class car, and GM already had the Geo nameplate which served as an umbrella for multiple foreign brands to be retailed at Chevrolet’s massive dealer network.
Unfortunately, the result sent both companies screaming from the room. Mercedes was not ready for such blatant badge-engineering, and GM’s cost accountants got white hair when they ran the numbers on warranty claims for the Mercedes-sourced components.
The only guy disappointed was the one who thought of the deal. But after Robert Eaton left GM for Chrysler, it was a different story . . . .
“…GM’s cost accountants got white hair when they ran the numbers on warranty claims for the Mercedes-sourced components…” (emblems)
Where’s the emoticon for a spit take? 😉
It’s in nice condition for what it is. Cheap cars usually don’t get treated very well. And whoever performed the custom work did very well. The letters are all nice and straight, and no excess glue around the stars. They may have invested in new parts. What some people will spend their time and money on…
Whoa, it is a New York license plate in the A-series and it looks good to boot. Most of these plates are hanging on someone’s wall or have been recycled into new license plates and the few still out in the wild are somewhat to severely worn out after being on the road for over a dozen years.The Blue and White Empire plates debuted in January 2001 with ACA 1000 and replaced the Liberty Plates by late 02-mid 03, but once in a blue moon you will see a Liberty Plate straggler even 10 years later. Every time a vehicle changes hands in New York you have to get new plates (none of this Oregon business where the plate stays with the vehicle) which is why NY goes through a letter series about every two years. New York tried doing a forced replate in late 2009/early 2010 to raise over a hundred million dollars of revenue and have everyone get the Gold and Blue Empire Plates (seen in the second photo on the nose of the 97-01 Camry), but between public hatred of the design, increased registration fees, and a new fee just to get the plates the forced replate was cancelled. However, since money was already spent on designing the new plates and the DMV probably had already bought gallons of paint the new design started being cranked out in April 2010. Who knows when the last Blue and White Empires will be taken off the road.
Neat Metro, did you see if it was a stick shift or not?
Well I could be interested – does it come in a Pullman edition? 😉
Allow me to offer the perspective of someone who’s done this before. Eight years ago I was looking for a car to replace the 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T I had just sold. The R/T, while a blast to drive when it ran right, inherited all the bad Lotus traits with its DOHC head and intermittently ran rich and burned oil and coolant, sometimes all three at once! My dad’s 1990 ZR-1, with its Lotus heads, is similarly tempermental at times. The last straw was when the white paint started peeling and the fuel pump went out. I knew that if I put the money into restoring it that it would need that I would be deep in the hole at the end, so I decided to replace the fuel pump and dump it.
Needing something with similar or better fuel economy once it was gone, I asked my friend about his 1991 Geo Storm Hatchback that he was considering selling. The Storm was starting to show its age having spent all its life in Michigan, but still ran great, the price was right at a hundred bucks, and it having working A/C and a 5 speed sealed the deal. I wasn’t really looking forward to driving a car whose appearance could most graciously be described as odd, though. Fortunately, another friend’s bad fortune had given me an out of sorts.
My other friend had a 1985 BMW 325e that had just been totalled when he lost control of the trailer he was towing it on and both rolled (gotta check the level of the trailer tongue, having it slope too far down is a very bad thing!). So, I got the nose and tail emblems and wheels/tires from it. Since the wheels/tires bolted right up to the Storm, I got to thinking. I figured that since they’d been out of production for 13 years by that point and were never commonplace, most people probably wouldn’t know what it was if I turned it into a “BMGeo”.
So, an online order for 3 custom made “316ti” badges (my apologies to the “real” 318ti, though it is also a somewhat awkward looking machine with its obviously truncated tail) and I was on my way! I “smoked” the taillights with a dusting of flat black paint and removed the “Storm” emblems from the dashboard and exterior. While I can’t say it looked good, it definitely improved its appearance. It was mostly a tongue in cheek effort to make me feel better about driving it, and it worked well for that. Also, slightly more convincing than the Geo Prizm I’d seen around at that same time with M-B badges on it; it was tastefully done like this Metro but wasn’t fooling anyone.
The “BMGeo” only lasted in my ownership for about six months before the timing belt snapped on it leaving me stranded on I-69 about 2 hours from home. After seriously contemplating pulling my plate and abandoning it, I borrowed a tow dolley and pulled it home. Sold it as is for the hundred bucks I paid after I pulled the badges, wheels/tires and battery. It was just as well, as the A/C had gone out by that point as well.
The high point of my brief ownership period? I was picking up a couple dining room chairs with my then-girlfriend now wife with it one day. The fellow who was helping us was a charming middle-age Italian. Upon seeing the car, he said: “Hey, that’s a nice B-M[-W]!” Doing my best to hold back my urge to burst out laughing, I said “Thanks!” He said, “You don’t see many like that”, to which I replied “No, you sure don’t”