Mercedes SLK
The mid-90s saw countless introductions of roadsters from many manufacturers after the absolute success of Mazda's MX-5 ( Miata ). Almost every big or small manufacturer designed its own roadster and everybody awaited Mercedes- Benz's answer to the new trend. And Mercedes-Benz gave awarded their patience with a unique car. The SLK which is both a coupe and a cabrio thanks to its brilliant metal roof which folds and stores itself just like in a normal cabrio.
The whole concept sounded ideal. All the advantages of a coupe combined with the freedom of a cabrio and the car itself is vey near to the expectations. Of course there is no question of sales success since even now - several years after SLK's introduction you will have to wait several months to get your hands on your brand new Mercedes SLK after ordering it.
Initially powered by 2.0 lt. and 2.3 lt normally-aspirated or mechanically compressed engines producing 136 hp to 193 hp the SLK did not really set the road on fire but was fast enough to be a lot of fun. That was until the early 2000 facelift which also saw the introduction of a new range of engines. The current lineup consists of a 2.0lt 136 hp normally aspirated engine, a 2.0lt, 163hp compressed engine, a 2.3lt 193hp compressed engine and, for the first time, a 3.2 V6 producing 225hp that provides some really serious performance as 0-60 mph takes less than 6.5 seconds.
