Classic pearls of the future - Mercedes-Benz SLK
06/16/2015
Is it already that old? In fact, the Mercedes-Benz SLK will be 20 years old in 2016. It was presented at the Turin Motor Show in April 1996 and was available to buy the following fall. However, the sporty, lightweight and short car had already made its debut as a model two years earlier, when it was also presented as a concept car at the Turin Motor Show.
Shortly afterwards, the most important feature, the automatically retractable sheet metal convertible roof, was shown for the first time in Paris.
With the "Vario roof", Mercedes set a new trend that continues to this day. After that, hardly any manufacturer could do without a sheet metal roof convertible, which combined the advantages of a closed coupé and a convertible and made a hardtop unnecessary. However, this was at the expense of storage capacity, which shrank considerably from 348 to 145 liters when the roof was lowered.
In technical terms, the SLK was based on the C-Class; the standard engines were four-cylinder engines with and without superchargers with 136 to 197 hp. From the year 2000, there were also six-cylinder engines with 218 hp or even 354 hp in the AMG version. And yes, the SLK could still be shifted by hand, initially with a five-speed gearbox and later also with a six-speed gearbox if you had not ordered an automatic.
The all-season R 170 sold magnificently, with 311,222 units being built in eight years.
It can actually be seen as a late successor to the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL, and was perhaps even positioned slightly below it. Its successors, the R 171 and R 172, slipped further up the range, and finally the V8 even found its way into the front end of the SLK, which has long since established itself as a separate and important model series in the Mercedes range.
The first of its kind will soon be loved and cherished as a youngtimer and in a good ten years' time as a classic car, even if today it may appear somewhat angular and less elegant than its successors.
