2011 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class - Automobile Magazine
Toe-to-toe at last. The predecessors to the two cars you see here debuted back in the booming late 1990s, but were as different as Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton, or Friends and Seinfeld. The SLK, in contrast, had a steel folding hard top, came in colors like copper and electric green, and had recirculating-ball steering. Everyone knows Newt's a philanderer, too, and no one knows what's on NBC Thursday nights. More to the point, with the two-seat convertible segment shriveling to a size that can no longer support multiple niches, BMW and Mercedes have moved away from their extremes and have, in the process, created very similar roadsters. In the Z3's transformation to the Z4 and now the second-generation Z4, it aped the SLK's luxurious appointments and its folding hardtop. Mercedes, meanwhile, has quietly injected testosterone into its "chick car" such that the new SLK350, which went on sale earlier this month, puts down 302 hp and carves corners like an honest-to-goodness sports car. Or does it. A comparison of lesser hardtop convertibles would no doubt spend much time talking about which did a better job disguising the frumpy rear quarters. This, however, is the master class, and there's no trace of awkwardness in either our diamond white metallic SLK350 or Melbourne red metallic Z4 sDrive35is. Instead, we can consider the SLK and Z4 on the merits of their overall design. Much like buying the cheapest house in a ritzy neighborhood, the SLK clearly benefits aesthetically from having very expensive older siblings. Source: www.automobilemag.com
