So the next next Mercedes-Benz A-Class will be taller than the current one.
Its proportions might even resemble the brilliantly packaged original of 1996. Back then, in a university essay, I predicted it would be a revolutionary car. Shows what I knew. Instead, the A-Class evolved into an ordinary hatchback, with people talking about the Mk1 a bit like they do the Audi A2: ahead of its time.
They weren’t really ahead of their time, though. Had they been, by now loads of cars would be built like them. But aside from the fact that there are lots of companies that make no money selling small cars, they aren’t.
One element of both their designs has, entirely coincidentally, filtered through to the mainstream: their raised H-point, or hip point: the distance of one’s bum from the ground.
It’s not because their intelligent, compact vehicle packaging, with upright seating positions that allow big interior space, has caught on; it’s just that, first, we fell in a big way for SUVs and crossovers, which by nature have higher driving positions. Then, more latterly, we’ve started putting batteries underneath the cabin, which also raises the cockpit floor.
This should enable more cars to be built like the original A-Class, which had what we described as a “complex sandwich platform”: a flat cabin floor above a lower floorpan, with the engine forcing its way between the two in the event of a front-on impact in an accident.
These days double floors exist in effect in lots of electric vehicles, with batteries between them. If you don’t need a large motor out front, it should be possible to reduce a car’s length while retaining its interior volume, A-Class-style. But we haven’t seen much evidence of it; I think there’s still a preconception that a short car is a cramped car and therefore should be cheap.
There are benefits to the new trend for a higher driving position. What many customers like about crossovers is that the H-point is at the ‘right’ level for entry and egress. When I drove my nonagenarian neighbour to the shop earlier this week I took us in my A2 rather than a BMW 3 Series coupé or Land Rover Defender, because the Audi was the best height for her. It’s easier if you’re loading small children, too.
By
