TESTED 19.7.23, BEDFORDSHIRE ON SALE NOW
Remember straightforward hot hatchbacks of asphalt-sniffing stance and turbo brawn? It's a R sad sign of the times that such cars now feel like a novelty. Hot hatches are dying out, with most in a final evolutionary stage and quite expensive. Fifty-grand Honda Civic Type R, anyone?
Among the stalwarts is Mercedes-AMG's A35, which ticks both boxes. As with all of the A-Class range, it's been refreshed until an EV successor arrives. It inherits the grille and bulging bonnet of the hardcore A45, with Mercedes' roundel swapped for Affalterbach's.
I suppose the message is that the A35 is a proper AMG. But is it really? Doubts linger. As the most 'accessible' AMG, it has always used a modified version of a mainline A-Class motor, not something bespoke to AMG, so questions of authenticity arise. Yet the new C63 has only four cylinders where before you got an earth-shaking V8, so what is authenticity anyway?
This story is from the August 02, 2023 edition of Autocar UK.
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This story is from the August 02, 2023 edition of Autocar UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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