The beginning of the end for automotive design arrived when mass-market buyers embraced boxy, tallish, crossover family wagons.
Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 4MATIC: Could be the start of Amazon Prime’s delivery fleet.
Okay, okay, we still see the odd Aston Martin DBS Superleggera and Polestar 1. But only a handful of buyers can afford those two and, say, Porsche’s brilliant Taycan EV. In the sub-$100,000 world, the Mazda3 is perhaps the only decent-looking car with shapely body panels, cultured lines and entertaining creases.
Aston Martin DBS Superleggera (above) and Polestar 1
It’s possible to make an affordable, eye-catching hatchback, but a rarity. The two-box styling of your typical crossover in 2022 – one box for the engine, a second box for people and cargo – generally leaves stylists flummoxed. Sure, they tinker with fender swells, wheel openings, door cutouts, door-side contours, hood shapes, greenhouse openings and rooflines.
It’s generally a half-hearted effort, though. There is only so much even a young Leonardo da Vinci might accomplish with the proportions and stance of a delivery van.
This brings me to the latest 2022 Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 4MATIC. It has jazzy wheels, a Pinocchio nose and the grilled grin of the Cheshire Cat, and it
Mazda3: hatchback design done properly.
looks ready to work for Amazon Prime. There is nothing captivating or joyous here. I am reminded of the old Honda Element or a four-door Fiat 500X, though neither has ever been available with three rows of seating like the GLB 35.
Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 4MATIC: lots of space back there, obviously.
I’m not singling out this Merc, either. Consider its rivals: BMW’s X2 M35i; the Mini Cooper Countryman JCW and the Ranger Rover Evoque HST.
BMW X1 (above), Mini Cooper Countryman, Range Rover Evoque (below).
Only the Evoque does something actually daring – pinch the roofline at the rear. This, of course, makes taller folks bang heads when climbing into the back seat.
If you cast a wider net in search of competition, you could throw in Volvo’s XC40, BMW’s X1, and Mercedes’ own GLA-class. Mainstream, unimaginative and uninspiring.
There’s not a Chevrolet Chevelle SS wagon among them, nor a Buick Estate Woody. Even an old Plymouth Estate has more design flair.
So, from the outside, we have a postal van. Open the doors and climb in, however, and this car’s cabin and performance capabilities deliver something else entirely.
Start with the AMG Super Sport instrument display. It’s visually gripping and pumps out a colorful, crystal-clear array of information and insights: G-meter, turbo boost and engine data right there in front of the driver, in the binnacle. This gauge cluster is reconfigurable, too. It’s breathtaking.
Right beside it is an infotainment screen with similarly delightful digital graphics, all of this covered by a single pane of glass. These dashboard readouts flow beautifully, one to the other.
The price of such beauty is the MBUX infotainment software. It’s confounding.
Merc is hardly alone in creating an infotainment system that defies common sense and human intuition. There is small comfort in the fact that most carmakers have yet to master the challenge of burying scads of functions in a single screen.
Mercedes-Benz GLB 200 d 4MATIC: wonderful digital display.
Eventually, you’ll figure out enough of how MBUS works to get moving, though even the gearshift lever is where most others put the windshield wiper stalk – on the right, below the steering wheel.
If you buy this car, don’t leave the dealership before someone demonstrates how the software allows for voice recognition; and how to manage the easy-to-miss touchpad that falls to hand just north of the centre armrest/storage container. Also get help with mastering gesture-controlled interactions, or you might find yourself waving absurdly, trying to get the car to respond.
The car’s video-game functionality might be a deterrent for the over-40 crowd, who are folks most likely to afford my as-tested $70,590 rig, and have never played Halo or Fortnite. Nonetheless, I’d suggest moving on to a broader appreciation of the cabin’s details and design flourishes.
Below the infotainment array you’ll find three round vents roundly framed in lighting that is best appreciated at night. There is also the racy flat-bottomed steering wheel; microfiber and leather upholstery, which in my tester had Red Stitching, covers well-formed seats up front, and roomy ones in the back. The Carbon Optic trim works well, adding a race-track flavor to the package.
This is what two-box designs can look like, when done properly: Buck Estate Woody, Chevrolet Chevelle SS wagon, Plymouth Estate.
Available here is a third row which is uninhabitable for adults, but third rows are not found in key rivals. Throughout, the cabin’s $1,000 Night Package lighting looks like money well spent.
The GLB is well equipped even in $58,900 base trim. My tester added: 360 Camera ($650); Advanced Sound System ($400); 21-inch AMG Multi-Spoke Wheels Matte Black ($1,250); Digital White ($890); Navigation Package ($800); Technology Package ($1,600); Premium Package ($3,100); and the AMG Driver’s Package ($2,000). That’s how $59,000 turns in to $70,000.
Whatever you pay, you get a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine. It makes a jumpy 302 horsepower and is mated to a superb eight-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is standard.
This car is quick: 0-100 km/hour in around 5.0 seconds. It carves a corner quite nicely, though you pay for sharp handling with a stiff ride. Not painful, but not pleasant when the pavement is uneven or worse.
The story here is of a dullish-looking wagon with great wheels and an overwrought nose, one that also boasts a wonderfully stylish cabin and confounding software. Some serious redemption is found in dynamic responses that will have you forget your disappointment with the sheetmetal presentation, and the workmanlike form.
