The three circular instruments–one a speedometer, one a tachometer, and the other a combination fuel level/coolant temperature dial–have chrome rings around ivory faces with black numerals and red needles. Mercedes-Benz interior stylists have unabashedly opted for a retro look to the SLK's cozy cockpit. as a single model, fully equipped, and offers a mere handful of options, most desirable among them washers for the headlights. What makes it more impressive is the fact that there is still some usable trunk space when the lid is lowered–not much, but still about as much as a Miata.Īlthough there are engine options in Europe, the SLK is available in the U.S. That's a pretty clever piece of engineering. Naturally, raising the top involves the same steps in reverse. When the top is being lowered, side windows retract, latches on the windshield header are released, the trunk lid is raised (backwards), the roof folds into two halves and slides into its bay, and the trunk lid closes. Five hydraulic cylinders fed from a trunk-mounted pump raise and lower the lid when the driver operates a single switch. It is standard equipment and, being integrated into the car, eliminates the need for a soft top. Seven-spoke aluminum alloy wheels–carrying different-size tires front and rear–fill the wheel openings, contributing to the SLK's purposeful appearance.īut the SLK's most obvious and unusual exterior feature is its power-operated hardtop. Nice touches include the faired-in aerodynamic headlights, steeply raked windshield, large rear light clusters and bumpers tucked tightly against the body. It is short but sleek, with a chunky, puroposeful look to it. Will it be good enough for you? WalkaroundĮven without the three-pointed star badges, it would be difficult to mistake the SLK for anything but a Mercedes-Benz. Each carries a company name synonymous with performance, quality and engineering, and each comes from a company with plenty of sports car-building experience.īy the time the first SLKs hit the showroom, the little coupe/roadster had already proven itself good enough to win the North American Car of the Year award. All fit into a fairly narrow price window centered at about $40,000, all are well-equipped, and all promise as much over-the-road fun as most drivers can stand. All three–BMW’s Z3, Porsche’s Boxster and the Mercedes-Benz SLK–are competing in a niche slightly above the Miata, yet below stalwarts in the Jaguar XK8 and Porsche 911 class.Īll three newcomers are impressive. Now, there are three new members of the sports-car clan. No real psychic ability was needed to see that other small, frisky sporting machines would follow. Cute, fun and affordable, it was an instant success. At various times, the market for them has expanded and contracted one such period of shrinkage began in the late 1960s, leaving only a few contenders, most of them high-priced, to satisfy the demand of a small but steady market for high-performance two-seaters. Sports cars have been with us in one form or another for almost as long as there have been internal-combustion engines propelling wheeled vehicles.
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