<<really I don't understand what you have against that car. well finished, good-looking,>>

Well, there you have it. The interior is not well finished, at least in black. And outside, it's looks remind me of a cat in heat with it's rear end hiked up in the air.

They didn't exactly fly off the shelves in the U.S.

lol thats funny i usually see young guys and girls driving them arround here.

Why the W203 base ? Because somewhere during the W204 development proces it was decided not to make a W204 sportcoupe. Then MB management changed their minds, but too much time was lost to catch up with the sedan & estate versions.
And they also wanted it to be be more affordable within the range, hence the use of the old platform.
So far as the use for a MB hatchback : I drove 2 of them for over 150,000 kms in the last 3 years, and think they are brilliant. You get the full Mercedes chassis "treatment" (long distance comfort, compliance, NVH) and it seats 4 adults easily, yet it is not bigger than a VW Golf. And the big hatch allows for easy acces to a huge boot. I got a C break this year which is nice, but not that much roomier. Come next year & changing time, I believe I will get back to the coupe.
Great packaging, good looks and at least you don't see them too often (opposed to C-estates out here in Europe).

Welcome to GCZ and a great first post.

I've driven the C203 C-Class Sportcoupe's and I didn't find them bad at all. Reasonably decent handlers and quite comfy too. The base C180 Kompressor was pretty fun and had a great pickup of speed too.

I think I'm gonna give MB the benefit of the doubt on this one. Thorough development of an 'old' platform can yield some surprising results!

Exactly.

People always think an old platform of chassis is "outdated", when in reality a lot can be done to modernize it. Seems like Mercedes is doing just that. A few tweaks here and there and you've got yourself a well-handling, comfortable and modern driving car.

From the spy pictures we've seen, the design seems pretty much the same. Looks like they only changed the front. This is a little disspointing but I guess we'll have to wait and see it in real life before making our final decision.

Mercedes C Sport Coupe Spied
Almost ready

One of our spy photographers caught the upcoming, all-new and almost undisguised Mercedes-Benz C-class Sport Coupe out in the open in Sourthern Germany undergoing some road testing. The current model underwent a facelift in 2004 and is rapidly approaching its end of shelf life.

The Mercedes C-Class Sport Coupe almost got axed but thanks to new Daimler boss Zetsche the sport coupé has been revived and will be making it to the Mercedes-Benz range in 2008. The styling is completely new but the underpinnings are based on the current C-Class platform, just as it was in the previous generation too. The C-Sport Coupé will have to compete against some strong and established rivals, namely the BMW 1 Series Coupe and the Audi A3 amongst others.

[Source: WCF]

No, thanks!

I see some camo which seem to cover a section of the tail light which extends to the boot lid. Perhaps a little redesign on the rear.

I've noticed that too, but still my opinion is that it won't make any difference to overall design. It simply doesn't look right, mainly due to that ugly and too high and short rear. Plus, afaik, it's based on old platform, right?

Anyhow, i know you MB guys don't accept MB to follow BMW in any way, but in this case they should; they should do just like BMW did with 3er compact - drop that shit!