In a past life, I was the editor-in-chief at a women’s luxury magazine. I was renting a small one-bedroom condo at Peter and Adelaide in Toronto at the time, my annual salary a fraction of what the publication’s readership household income was. Still, on many occasions I got to live an opulent lifestyle far outside my means because of my job title.
Chanel, the high-end French fashion label, flew me first-class to Paris to see a runway show at Grand Palais (it was this one , if you must know); Dom Perignon took me on a helicopter ride in Iceland and then fed me glasses of ultra rare champagne behind the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. I could never have afforded those experiences on my own dime and I recognize my privilege. Still, I have to admit, that taste of luxury was easy to get used to.
In 2016, my partner, a fellow journalist, and I bought an orange (officially known as Assuan Brown) 1983 Westfalia camper van in Quebec, sold everything in our apartment, quit our full-time jobs, and moved into the van . You needn’t give me your van down by the river or dirty hippie jokes, because I’ve heard them all.
Until recently, the most modern luxury-ish vehicle I had been in since my editor-in-chief days was my father-in-law’s diesel Chevy pickup truck. But this past summer when we were in Toronto visiting my family, we had the opportunity to get into a pair of new products from Mercedes-Benz, first trying out the 2021 E 450 4Matic sedan and then the 2021 GLC 300 4Matic SUV. All of a sudden, I was living like I used to.
Stepping down and into the E 450 sedan we tested was a unique experience at first. I truly can’t recall the last “car” I rode in. It’s all SUVs these days, even for van owners, even if the E class is M-B’s best selling vehicle of all time. But once inside, I instantly felt at home. The car’s soft grey leather passenger seat embraced me as the inline six-cylinder engine’s 362 horses and 369 lb-ft of torque coaxed me back. My hands reached out to explore the open-pore ash wood trim on the car’s interior surfaces and twist and poke at the MBUX infotainment system’s two 12.3-inch screens.
2021 Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
Said jean jacket and one-week beard on my partner in the 2021 Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz E450 4Matic Photo by Nadine Filion / Driving.ca
Photo by Nadine Filion / Driving.ca
Behind the wheel, my partner’s one-week beard and thrifted denim coat looked a little more upscale than they usually did. Premium by proxy, as the $85,550 vehicle’s luxury vibes seemed to soak into even our clothing. Likewise his 6’6” frame seemed in place in this Germany-born product, which is more than I can say for some of the Asia-made vehicles we also tested while in the province.
On the area’s busy 400-series highways, the E 450 was smooth and competent, giving me plenty of upward glances into the eyes of SUV drivers in the lanes to our right, eyes that seemed to say, “Who are you there in that dark blue Mercedes?”
Because when you’re in a Mercedes, people notice. It was the same in the $63,365 2021 GLC 300 SUV, the brand’s best seller in Canada, that we swapped the sedan for the next week. When you park a Mercedes, people stop and wait, seemingly with more patience than when you’re reversing an old VW bus. There’s something about getting in and out of a luxury vehicle like this that just makes you want to hold your shoulders back a little tighter and lift your chin a little higher.
The GLC’s 2.0L four-cylinder engine making 255 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque was less peppy than that of the sedan’s, getting from 0-100 km/h in 5.6 seconds, but still enough to deliver us to our appointments on time. In truth, my partner’s slightly lighter right foot treatment in the SUV, often set in Comfort mode, made the ride even more enjoyable than the sedan’s, despite the GLC’s relatively reduced level of luxury compared (the 2021 GLC can be spec’d out for even more luxury, adding features to the tune of another $10,000 if desired).
2021 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4Matic Photo by Lisa Felepchuk
2021 Mercedes GLC 300 4Matic Photo by Brian Harper
2021 Mercedes GLC 300 4Matic Photo by Brian Harper
2021 Mercedes GLC 300 4Matic Photo by Brian Harper
I also found the GLC’s analogue setup slightly more intuitive than the sedan’s, making it easier for me to select the right soundtrack and climate settings for our commutes. Nineties pop is premium, right?
My mom always told me to dress for the job you want, not the job you have. That saying feels a bit dated now that so many of us work from home, often in sweatpants, but the sentiment rings true and can be applied to my experience as the passenger in those Mercedes for those couple weeks: a luxury vehicle makes you feel different.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved falling asleep to the smell of fuel in my ’80s camper van just as much as I loved making a left hand turn down a dirt road and cranking the ice cream truck-sized wheel with all my might because it has no power steering. But I would be lying if I didn’t say I carry myself differently when I’m in a luxury vehicle like a Mercedes.
Those weeks as a passenger in the Mercedes GLC and E class sedan reminded me that I really do enjoy the feeling of luxury.
Keyword: Riding Shotgun: 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4Matic and E 450 4Matic