Designated Driver

>>When times get hard—and they are getting hard now, aren’t they?—more vehicles are sent for press reviews in the hope that readers will be motivated to purchase the reviewed vehicle. So it is that in recent months a flood of vehicles has hit my driveway.

Let’s look at two worthy choices pulled from the many.

Mercedes-Benz CLK550

A powerful, good-looking ragtop convertible that seats four.

If you want to turn heads while driving, drive a convertible. If you want to be admired for your choice of vehicle, drive a Mercedes-Benz convertible.

Everywhere I drove or parked in this beautiful 2008 CLK550, it drew favorable comments. One reason might have been the smile on my face. I was in command of a top-down pleasure mobile with a V-8 engine packing 382 horsepower—enough to scoot us from zero to 60 in 5.2 seconds. Not too long ago, such a quick time would have been associated only with two-seat sports cars.

To say that our tester had all the bells and whistles is something of an understatement. Mercedes-Benz has a deserved reputation for advancing vehicle engineering, and this car came with such advanced features as a seven-speed, automatic transmission that could be shifted manually by twin paddles on the steering wheel.

I was also impressed with the headlamp design that triggered the lights to turn as I entered curves or changed direction at night.

If there’s a safer convertible, I haven’t driven it. If the CLK550 were to begin a rollover, twin rollbars would pop up instantly to keep a top-down crash from reaching those inside. And for dreaded side impacts, Mercedes-Benz has somehow managed to incorporate head/thorax side air bags into this ragtop, which had been considered almost impossible.