Mercedes-Benz is performing something of a conjuring trick with this apparently new CLC coupé. Designed to replace the outgoing Sports Coupé model, it comes with an updated look clearly derived from that of the superb new C-class saloon. Under its skin, though, it’s a reworked version of the old Sports Coupé and therefore based on the previous-generation C-class, a car designed last century. The question is, does it matter?

Mercedes thinks not. It claims its customers will be won over not only by the car’s style but also by its allegedly keen pricing, which would not have been possible had it designed the car from scratch. It also maintains it has exchanged or modified more than 1,100 components to create what is in effect a new car.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the CLC’s inauspicious origins, Mercedes has reheated the Sports Coupé soup with some degree of success. Of the body panels, only the roof and doors survive from the old car; the new nose is strikingly attractive, allowing the CLC to hold its head high among Mercedes’ more expensive coupés, such as the CLS and CL. The engines – four petrol and two diesel – are not new but have all been made more efficient to provide more power, better economy and fewer CO2 emissions. The steering system has been borrowed from the SLK roadster, and the suspension at both ends has been heavily revised for greater precision and increased ride comfort.

The modifications contrive to give the CLC an easy-going fluency that belies the age of its original design. I drove a CLC 220 CDI – which will be the bestselling model after the CLC 180 petrol version, unavailable at the car’s launch in Vienna – and it proved a pleasant and entirely undemanding way to wander around Austria. The engine is rather noisy at idle and delivers limited performance, but, at the risk of sounding ageist, the largest group of CLC buyers is likely to be those who have finally got rid of their children and mortgages, no longer need rear doors and have always wanted to drive a car with a three-pointed star on its nose.

If you ask no more of it than this, it will likely prove a loyal and rarely annoying companion. The cabin is attractively laid out and the new optional telematics system is a welcome replacement for the clunking old sat nav, which was about as easy to use as a sextant. There’s lots of room in the front, enough in the rear for the occasional grandchild and an impressively big boot for the his’n’hers golf clubs you always promised yourselves.

The problem is that for every senior citizen who buys a CLC, there will also be a young hotshot weighing up whether to choose one of these or, say, a BMW 120d as a new company car. While the Mercedes has nothing whatever to fear from the BMW in the visuals department, out on the road the 1-series will leave it a long way behind. For if you push the CLC hard, the body exudes a level of float and wallow you’d never find in a new C-class. It becomes ever harder to stick to your chosen line and the engine grows hoarse as it tries to maintain your chosen pace.

You can, of course, choose a more powerful motor – I also drove a 268bhp CLC 350 Sport with a smooth and responsive V6 under the bonnet – but in reality fewer than 1% of CLC customers will spend the £27,420. Nor will there be any ultra-sporting AMG version.

You can see why when you learn the car’s true purpose: to fill a gap in Mercedes’ price range. Making the CLC any better than it is would simply have lost the company sales of its bigger, more profitable products.

Seen another way, the CLC does just about enough to introduce new customers to the world of Mercedes. It’s not a great car but it does have the feel of an authentic Mercedes-Benz, which is more than I’d say about the A-class and B-class front-wheel-drive hatchbacks. For some, that is all the affirmation needed. For everyone else, a less attractive but otherwise superior car awaits at the nearest BMW dealership.

Vital statistics

Model Mercedes CLC 220 CDI SE
Engine type 2148cc, four cylinders
Power / torque 148bhp @ 4200rpm / 251 lb ft @ 2000rpm
Transmission Six-speed manual
Fuel / CO2 47.9mpg (combined) / 156g/km
Performance 0-62mph: 9.7sec. Top speed: 139mph
Road tax D (£145 a year)
Price £22,260
Verdict A surprisingly successful rehash of a very old car
Date of release June 12

The opposition

Model
BMW 120d SE Coupé £23,090
For Frugal, punchy engine; great ride and handling
Against Looks rather odd; limited room in the rear

Model
Volkswagen Eos 2.0 TDI £21,920
For Retractable hard-top roof; good looks; well built
Against Tiny boot and rear cabin; lacks kudos