Remind me to never watch the clip below in my car. Doing so will only make it jealous and me sick at the thought of how much cooler the Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG is than my daily driver.
I have a small sedan, but it’s not nearly as attractive or as fast as the German pint-size powerhouse. On the plus side, my grocery getter isn’t nearly as expensive, either. The Benz in the video costs a staggering $57,165. However, that kind of money generates 355 horsepower from a turbocharged 2-liter I4.
Automobile Magazine takes the muscular M-B to the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport to clock it over the standing mile. Using its 4MATIC all-wheel drive, the CLA45 claws its way to a 34.4-second time and a 146.1-mph trap speed. (Don’t tell my econobox.)
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
