SPORTLICH, LEICHT UND KURZ
It’s now 20 years since the Mercedes SLK arrived here in the UK, and it arrived during an era when many significant motor show concept cars became production reality – think Porsche Boxster and Audi TT for starters.
The Mercedes SLK R170 began life as a 1994 concept car shown at that year’s Paris motor show. Featuring the all-metal folding ‘Vario roof’, the R170 had been planned since 1991 and the Paris show car was a taster of things to come. Based on many C-Class/190E mechanical parts, the apparently sporty, light and short new convertible Mercedes arrived here in 1996 and was an immediate smash hit that made the BMW Z3 look a bit sorry for itself.
The initial model was the 230 Kompressor featuring the recently introduced M111 engine in 2.3-litre supercharged guise with 193 bhp and available with either a five-speed auto or a five-speed manual box. Some markets received a normally aspirated 136bhp SLK 200. The electro-mechanical folding roof was very clever and again, made the simple folding roofs of the Z3 and Boxster look primitive.
In 2000, Mercedes gave the SLK a mild facelift and expanded the model range. The new models included a 320SLK featuring
