![]() ![]() ![]() And no open car of the past protected its occupants from the wind as well the SLK’s mesh wind deflector, which fits over the rollover bars.Īll controls are located in clusters for easy use. No vintage sports car ever had such comfortable and supportive seats. A circuit has been added to the airbag system that detects a child’s seat mounted in the passenger side and disables the dash-mounted bag in front of it. Beyond dual front and side airbags, Mercedes has developed separate rollover bars behind driver and passenger. Shiny accents are applied in numerous places, and a two-tone effect combines black dashboard top, door panels, seat sides, glove box lid and center console with contrasting trim in the buyer’s choice of red, blue, dark gray or light gray.īut there is nothing old-fashioned about the SLK’s safety features. The three circular instruments-one a speedometer, one a tachometer, and the other a combination fuel level/coolant temperature dial-have chrome rings around ivory faces with black numerals and red needles. Mercedes-Benz interior stylists have unabashedly opted for a retro look to the cozy cockpit. Interior FeaturesĬlimb inside the SLK and suddenly it’s 1955 again. A new $3990 Sport Package was introduced for 1999 that includes stylish front and rear fascias, side sills and a more assertive wheel/tire package. Among them are a five-speed automatic transmission ($900), heated seats ($595), metallic paint ($600) and a CD changer/portable phone combo ($1595). as a single model, fully equipped, with a mere handful of options listed. What makes it more impressive is the fact that there is still some usable trunk space when the top is lowered-not much, but still about as much as a Mazda Miata offers when its top is up.Īlthough there are a couple of engine choices in Europe, the SLK is offered in the U.S. Naturally, raising the top involves the same steps in reverse. When the top is being lowered, side windows retract, latches on the windshield header are released, the trunk lid is raised backward, the roof folds into two halves and slides into its bay, and the trunk lid closes. Five hydraulic cylinders fed from a trunk-mounted pump raise and lower the lid when the driver operates a single switch. It is standard equipment and, being integrated into the car, eliminates the need for a soft top. Seven-spoke aluminum alloy wheels-carrying different-size tires front and rear-fill the wheel openings, contributing to the SLK’s purposeful appearance.īut the SLK’s most obvious and unusual exterior feature is its power-operated hardtop. Nice touches include the faired-in aerodynamic headlights, steeply raked windshield, large rear light clusters, and bumpers tucked tightly against the body. It is short but sleek, with a chunky, purposeful look. WalkaroundĮven without the three-pointed star, it would be difficult to mistake the SLK for anything but a Mercedes-Benz. Each comes from a company with plenty of sports car-building experience. Each carries a company name synonymous with quality, engineering and performance. All are impressive, all fit into a fairly narrow price window centered in the low-$40,000 arena, all are well-equipped, and all promise as much over-the-road fun as most drivers can stand. The installation of a five-speed manual in the Mercedes-Benz SLK for 1999 silences the purists and does much to raise the little two-seater’s fun quotient.Īmong two-seat roadsters, the SLK has two rivals in price, performance and features-the BMW Z3 and Porsche Boxster. A shift-it-yourself gearbox can indeed be a major plus when the primary goal is having fun behind the wheel. True sports car enthusiasts assert that true sports cars must have manual transmissions. ![]()
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