Formerly known as the SLK, the little roadster ups its game to keep up with the likes of the Audi TT and Porsche 718 Boxster.
JUST AS SOFT ROADERS paved the way for today’s crossover boom by being watered-down emulations of 4x4 off-roaders, the Mercedes-Benz SLK along with the Audi TT, BMW Z3 and Porsche Boxster were responsible for the roadster boom of the late 1990s. For the most part, those cars were more about the show than the go.
In the case of the SLK, its folding metal roof was a novelty act that caught on well enough to see countless other manufacturers following suit while the two-seat roadster was not available with a manual transmission.
Twenty years and three generations on, Mercedes has renamed it two-seat baby sportscar the SLC in the interest of the brand’s new naming structure. As ever, the ‘SL’ bit of its moniker aligns it with the other roadster, the SL, while the ‘C’ suffix indicates that it is positioned as a ‘C-Class’ version of the Mercedes sports car range.
The name might have changed but the formula remains the same; the folding hard top not only continues to be the SLC’s party trick, it makes the transition to al fresco motoring easier for those who may have not owned a convertible before and may be sceptical about the durability of a fabric roof.
This story is from the January 2017 edition of evo Singapore.
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This story is from the January 2017 edition of evo Singapore.
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