Pricing is set at EUR 40,900, including VAT, and production is said to be limited to 99 units.
It was released in 1996 and was built at the Mercedes plant in Bremen, Germany, until the end of production in 2020. The SLK was all about looking good, and that was something it did in spades. The Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class is a compact executive roadster, produced by Mercedes-Benz. The 230 Kompressor, which was the only available model at launch, used Mercedes’s patented supercharging technology to wring almost 200bhp out of the 2.3-litre straight-four engine, meaning it was no slouch.
Dynamics came second to the posing factor, and that was instantly noticeable as soon as you settled, rather comfortably, of course, behind the wheel. The SLK was a sports car that didn’t need to be a sports car. It didn’t matter one jot that the SLK’s chassis, based on a truncated C-class platform, was fairly wooden (a fact proven by the clunky, overweight Chrysler Crossfire that grew from the platform), or that the extra weight of the electro-hydraulic rams and steel roof made it considerably heavier than the likes of the BMW Z3 and Porsche Boxster that were touted as its rivals. A waiting list so long, in fact, that buyers in the USA had to wait over a year before Mercedes started importing them, and kick-started an even longer waiting list. With styling cues quite clearly ripped from the bigger SL, combined with a sub-£30,000 price tag and compact dimensions, it was no surprise that there was a waiting list across Europe almost from the outset. The company’s mini-SL, codenamed R170, made its European debut in April 1996 and was previewed at that year’s Turin Motor Show. As an engineering masterpiece, it was a sight to behold.
By pressing a button on the centre console, the roof would lift and concertina away into a rear deck that lifted up on hydraulic rams, so it was safely stowed away in just over 30 seconds. The Vario-Roof worked by means of a folding steel hardtop, divided in half along a transverse axis. The original ‘Vario-Roof’ was first seen on the SLK II Concept Car at the 1994 Paris Motor Show, the appearance of the prototype being so close to the final production model that it was clear from the outset that Mercedes had production intent for the model. It may not have been the first of its ilk, but the Mercedes-Benz R170 SLK was the car that popularised the trend of the electric folding hardtop – an idea that went on to spawn similar models from Peugeot, Vauxhall, Ford and Nissan to name but a few. SLKs left Read Owners' Reviews Introduction