MERCEDES-AMG A35

Refreshed go-faster A-Class waves a flag for the dying hot hatch breed

RICHARD LANE

Remember straightforward hot hatchbacks of asphalt-sniffing stance and turbo brawn? It’s a 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…

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Autocar (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2, 2023

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