To B, or not to B.

The B-Class body is new to most Americans.  We haven't gotten them here because we were too busy being leveraged and buying S63's and G55's.  However, our gun-less, not as affluent friends in the great white north of Canada have been driving around in B-Class cars for a couple years now.  See, Canadians just don't make as much money as Americans, or maybe it's that they don't borrow as much.  Either way, most car companies can't sell the expensive cars up there, and that's why little cars like the Mazda 3 sell so well in Canada, as opposed the US where we're busy trolling down our interstates in Ford F-150's.  And the same holds true for Mercedes Benz.  Now I understand with our new found frugality and debt ceilings for the average American these days, Mercedes has reconsidered and will in fact be importing the new B-Class that will be shown next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show.  Until then, it's just eight of us in these F-Cells that are built on the B-Class body, and anyone who's moved down here from Canada.

Just to give you a size comparison, here's a picture of my B-Class F-Cell next to a dreadful current generation Prius.  I can spout off dimensions all day but seeing them side by side tells the bigger story.  The length is about the same and so is the width, but you can see the B-Class sits much taller. This gives you a sense of the commanding view of the road you get in this car.  Even if it weren't a fuel cell powertrain, I think the B-Class is a fantastic car.  In fact, I had the displeasure of driving a C300 loaner car while the F-Cell was in for service a few weeks ago and I couldn't wait to get the F-Cell back.  It's just a much more interesting car to drive, and is easier to see out of and navigate around and more practical and better to haul people and things and on and on. 

For those who have to have the image will continue to lease those $399/month C300's, and god knows there are a ton of you here in LA.  For the rest of us who could care less and just want a nice, comfortable and practical Mercedes, I can't recommend the B-Class enough.  Yes, it might not have all the bells and whistles of an E-Class, and it certainly doesn't have the presence of a S-Class at the yacht club, but if you're out to impress no one but yourself, I'd say have a go at a B.