When Mercedes-Benz tried to make a compact luxurious vehicle to be used in cities, it unveiled the A-Class MPV in 1997.
In 2001, the long-wheelbase was introduced, to fix more mistakes of the car.

The A-Class became notorious after it failed the “elk-test” performed by a Sweedish magazine. That test is also known as an avoidance test when the driver had to violent maneuvers with right and left turns. After that, Mercedes-Benz stopped the production line to re-work the car and made a recall for the ones it sold. They restarted the production with the revised product and, in 2001, they came with a facelifted version that included the long-wheelbase A-Class.

The long-wheelbase version was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 2001, at the same time with the facelift version for the A-Class. It came with a new design for the bumpers, headlights, and taillights. The long-wheelbase offered an additional 170 mm (6.7”) between the axles and longer rear doors.

Inside, there were minimal differences over the non-facelifted version. The steering wheel still featured a three-spoke design, but it was different. There were the same three trim-levels of Classic, Elegance, and Avantgarde. The intelligent solution for seats removable was kept and only the driver’s seat couldn’t be removed.

There were two new engines under the hood: 1.6-liter gasoline and a 1.7-liter turbocharged diesel unit.