This attractive roadster is based on the chassis of the Mercedes Benz C-Class (M-B's small executive saloon) and was pitched against the likes of BMW's Z3 roadster and the Porsche Boxster in the marketplace. A novel feature of this car is that instead of a folding canvas roof, it has a folding metal hardtop which stows away in the rear luggage compartment when the roof is down. This makes it looks like a hardtop coupe when the roof is up, and makes it harder to break into (unlike regular "soft tops" which can be broken into by cutting through the fabric roof). A disadvantage though is that the luggage space is reduced to practically nothing when the roof is down, and hence if the boot is full of suitcases and so on, you can't put the roof down. Mercedes built the SLK with a selection of 4 and 6 cylinder engines, in common with much of it's range of cars. The basic SLK 200 has a 2 litre four, while the SLK 230 Kompressor has a 2.3 litre four, with an added supercharger for extra power. A six cylinder SLK 320 was also available, which had a 3.2 litre V6. An all new SLK was launched in 2004 by Mercedes.
This particular model has the 2.3 litre supercharged engine. It also represents an AMG SLK. AMG are the official tuning arm of Mercedes-Benz, and produce a range of modifications for the entire Mercedes range. This car has a set of 5 spoke AMG alloys, and has a more aggressive "bodykit" which consists of thicker sills and deeper front and rear bumpers. The half black half yellow interior and steering wheel is an AMG touch as well (not necessarily in a yellow/black combination, but any 2 tone combination). AMG also can uprate the engine and suspension components, and I think this SLK rides lower than the standard car.
UT Models made this car, and it was one of their nicer models. It comes with a folding roof mechanism which is a bit tricky to manipulate. Hence I haven't photographed it in the up position as I am too lazy to fiddle with it! The interior looks good, with all the switches on the central console painted in, and the engine bay is not too bad either (but like alot of UT's, the engine is not a separate molding, but instead part of the chassis mold). Although they are nothing like as nice as the latest AUTOart brakes, UT did include rotating brake discs with fixed callipers which means the brakes look reasonably good on this model.
It is a nice model however, and was available in other colours besides yellow, which may be a bit loud for some tastes! It gets a solid 6/10 marks.
