In four days of driving, the new Mercedes GLC300 Coupe incites a common refrain: “That thing is sexy; what is it?”
This from a self-identified “car guy” outside a fishing shop in upstate New York, though variations emerged from all types of folks. At gas stations, stoplights, and even in brownstone Brooklyn during a dodgy parallel-park, curious passersby invariably gaped at the strange, buggy Benz. I’ve driven six-figure, carbon-veined sports cars that turned fewer heads.
So what’s the answer? What is this machine? It’s a master class in curb appeal. A cure for SUV fatigue. The latest entry in a strange genus of automobilia that makes little sense, but lots and lots of money.
The GLC Coupe joins Mercedes’s larger GLE Coupe and BMW’s X4 and X6 in a burgeoning class of vehicles that have the height and weight of an SUV, but the shape of a sports coupe. They don’t drive quite as well as their lower-slung siblings, and they don’t haul as much as their full-sized twins. These rigs are the vehicular equivalent of Tim Tebow—not particularly great at anything, but boy, is he athletic.
“[Buyers are] really drawn to the vehicle, based off of exterior styling and the image of the car,” said Keith Edwards, a Mercedes product manager for the GLC line. “A coupe, at the end of the day, is about showing off.”