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It is ironic that Mercedes-Benz made its reputation in America as a luxury car. In Europe, it has made most of its money selling cars that are far less expensive. Over there, for example, every other taxi cab you see bears the three-pointed star. That's why the idea of a compact Mercedes makes so much more intuitive sense to Europeans than it does to us.

Of course, Mercedes itself has contributed to this problem. Their first effort at what later came to be known as the C-Class was the 190. It looked the part at first glance, but when you got close you saw that it had "wannabe" Mercedes written all over it. When I drove the first C-Class sedan — it must have been in 1993, as the C-Class debuted as a 1994 model — I remarked to a Mercedes exec that while the 190 had always struck me as a wannabe Benz, the C-Class had the feel of a real Mercedes in a smaller package. He agreed completely.

When the C230 Kompressor sport coupe appeared two years ago, we tested one. We were not impressed. In fact, we were so disappointed we decided not to write it up. It seemed too tinny and cheaply constructed to be deserving of the nameplate, frankly. They must have thought so, too, for the 2005 version we tested had all the tinniness and cheapness beaten out of it. Maybe the earlier vehicle was a prototype that was not up to production standards. We often receive prototypes, but the manufacturers generally tell us in advance so that we can take quality lapses into account. It is hard to believe Mercedes wouldn't have done so, too, but the difference in quality between the earlier test car and this latest one was really quite striking.

The C230 offers a lot. Mercedes provides the C230 buyer with a reassuring roster of the latest advances in safety technology. Stability control, BrakeAssist and side curtain airbags are all at the ready to help avoid an accident or protect the occupants in case said accident is imminent.

The C230 comes with a host of safety features, including four-wheel antilock disc brakes and three-point seatbelts with tension limiters. In government crash tests, the C-Class scored four out of five stars for driver and front-passenger protection in frontal impacts and five stars (for the front and rear) for side impacts. The IIHS gave the C-Class a "Good" rating (its highest) for its performance in the 40-mph frontal offset crash test, and named it a "Best Pick" overall.

Our test car came with a 1.8-liter, supercharged, inline four. It belted out a respectable 189-horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. The transmission was a six-speed, close-ratio manual unit. The engine and transmission are well mated. Performance is not in the E500 class, but it proved more than adequate to normal, every day driving.

In sum, Mercedes finally got the C230 up to snuff with our 2005 test car. With a base sticker of $25,580, it is affordably priced — slightly below the average price paid for a new car these days, in fact. Even with a fair amount of optional equipment, such as the sunroof and the Harmon Kardon sound system, our test car carried a modest sticker price of $28,210 (not including $720 in destination charges). If you want a little Mercedes that's the perfect thing for running around town and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, the C230 might just do it for you. R&D