The Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class is a luxury roadster. The name of this vehicle was chosen because it truly refelcts the intentions for the car because it is Sporty, Light, and Kompact. Sporty, Light, and Kompact works so well for Mercedes-Benz that there have been two generation of SLK cars from the company. All of the SLK-Class vehicles were built in Bremen, Germany starting on January 29, 1997 and the very last SLK-Class was completed on April 7, 2004.
The Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class is most famous for its folding hard top even though the company did not pioneer the technology. The SLK simply revived the usage of folding hardtops as they hadn't been used in recent years. The SL-Class would eventually incorporate the folding hardtop as well.
The SLK 230 Kompressor was introduced in 1997 for the 1998 model year and was meant to compete with the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z. The Kompressor had the folding hardtop which took away from the power of the supercharged engine and automatic transmission. Despite the weight the SLK was on Car and Drivers Ten Best list in 1997.
Mercedes-Benz took care of the weight and engine issue in 1999 with a five speed manual transmission, but it was even better when a 215 hp 3.2 L V6 egine and 6 speed manual transmission in 2001. Another model, the AMG hit the road in 2002 which was even more powerful with a 354 hp supercharged version of the 3.2 L V6 engine added in 2001. The SLK was updated in 2005 with a whole new appearance and more serious performance capabilities.
