By comparison, an early SLK 200 churns out just 134hp. Now, although it is a tad heavier than the more common four-cylinder cars, it makes up for the slight extra heft with a claimed 215hp. In this guise, the Merc comes with a 3.2-litre normally aspirated V6. To find out, I got behind the wheel of an SLK 320, which was positioned at the top of the trim level tree. All the right attributes were there on paper, but what about in practice? The SLK was built atop a shrunken version of the C-Class platform, weighed between 11kg depending upon spec, and had an engine range which suggested it could be quite a sporty proposition. The name might be rather unimaginative but, on the surface at least, it certainly seems to be accurate. Naturally, Mercedes also wanted a slice of the pie and the R170 SLK, or ‘ Sportlich Leicht Kurz’ – Sporty Lightweight Short, to you and me – was what they came up with. Models like the Mazda MX-5, MGF and BMW Z3 all performed well on showroom forecourts far better than their modern-day counterparts do. Once upon a time, small convertible sports cars were the rising niche in the automotive market. The Mercedes SLK was part of a mid-90s flurry of convertible sports cars but has a very different personality to most of its peers
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