Having informally debuted previous to the 2013 North American International Auto Show, the forthcoming 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250  pledges to be the 3-pointed star’s entry-level vehicle before the A-Class, which can or won’t ever reach our shores. The CLA250’s starting price is reputed to be around $30,000 with front-wheel drive (all-wheel drive would be available), but don’t be surprised to work out official pricing delivered in, of all places, Mercedes’ Super Bowl ad.

The least-expensive, new Mercedes you could currently get is an option-less C250 Sport sedan for just over $36,000. And with that car, you’d only have three colors to determine – black, red, and white – since the remainder of the paints cost an additional $720 ($1515 for Diamond White Metallic).

While you examine the CLA250 in our First Look, we’re thinking back to the last “affordable” Mercedes. We turn the clock back to a time when the Daimler-Chrysler regime was in full swing. It’s the year 2001 and the W203 C-Class remains relishing its first model year. Seeking to capture a bigger (re: younger) audience and dangle a low asking price in commercials and advertisements in an effort to drive traffic to showrooms, Mercedes announces the 2002 C230 Kompressor Sports Coupe. Four cloth-covered seats come standard whereas a CD player doesn’t (a bulky 6-disc changer was optional). The whole base damage is $25,595 including a $645 destination charge, but marketing efforts unsurprisingly shine up the $24,950 base price. The $25,595 is roughly $33,000 in 2013 dollars. In reality, the “Sports Coupe” is a two-door hatchback, but study the cost!

The 2002 C230K Sports Coupe came equipped with a supercharged 2.3-liter inline-four producing 192 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque. Sold with a six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission, we ran a manual version from 0-60 mph in 7.2 seconds and thru the quarter-mile in 15.3 seconds at 91.2 mph. Not too shabby, considering the last C250 Sport sedan (201 hp/229 lb-ft, seven-speed auto) we wear the drag strip took 6.9 seconds and 15.2 seconds at 91.2 mph, respectively.

Former Detroit editor Todd Lassa reviewed the C230K Sports Coupe for the June 2001 magazine issue, and a red test vehicle (pictured at right) partook in our 2002 Car of the Year competition. Lassa noted during his initial drive: “The coolest option – a wide ranging sliding sunroof that actually lets the light in – adds just 44 pounds. Just like the ‘88-‘91 Honda CRX, the game Coupe has a small strip of glass within the vertical portion of its hatchlid, below the backlight, to help parallel parking.”

After 12 months of W203 service, the iron-block 2.3-liter was eliminate in favor of a more efficient, supercharged, and all-aluminum 1.8-liter four-cylinder rated for 189 hp and 192 lb-ft. The smaller-displacement mill will be featured inside the remaining run of 2003-2005 Sports Coupes; its existence simultaneously helped launch the primary 2003 C230K sedan. The six-speed manual and five-speed auto carried on in both the four-door and within the hatchback.

Turning our attention back to 2013, the CLA250 runs with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four offering 208 hp and 258 lb-ft. Armed with front-wheel drive (the C230K Sports Coupe was rear-wheel drive), a seven-speed twin-clutch auto, and a remarkable 0.23 coefficient of drag (the C230K’s Cd is a not-terrible 0.29), we’d desire to predict front-drive CLA250 will knock on 30 mpg combined’s door, however the CLA250’s EPA fuel economy figures haven’t been released. The all-wheel-drive numbers is often very on the brink of front-drive ones. Perhaps the main curious fact in regards to the C230 Kompressor Sports Coupe is that this: As a result of the engine change and other tinkering, only the 2003 and 2005 models with the automated shared city/highway EPA ratings.

2002 C230 Kompressor Sports Coupe

6-speed manual – original EPA rating: 19/29/22 city/highway/combined; 2008+ EPA revision: 17/26/20

5-speed auto – original: 21/28/24; 2008+ EPA revision: 19/26/21

2003

6M – original: 21/31/25; 2008+ EPA revision: 19/28/22

5A – original: 23/32/27; 2008+ EPA revision: 21/29/24

2004

6M – original: 22/30/25; 2008+ EPA revision: 20/27/23

5A – original: 23/30/26; 2008+ EPA revision: 20/28/23

2005

6M – original: 23/31/26; 2008+ EPA revision: 21/28/23

5A – original: 23/32/26; 2008+ EPA revision: 21/29/24

Its tenure can have been short but we haven’t forgotten the Sports Coupe. Although our money is at the CLA-Class (scheduled to reach in dealerships this September) sticking around much longer than four model years.