Once around the block #1:- 2011 Mercedes SLK

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Manufacturers have an accursed time developing their small sports cars to suit everybody's taste, and Mercedes have had it worse than many with their junior sportster, the SLK.

The first issue, launched in 1996, was criticised for being too overtly effeminate, more at home outside a wine bar than slicing through an alpine pass. As if to counter that, the 2004 replacement took styling cues from the McLaren SLR and had a rear suspension that seemed to be directly connected to my spine.

Click to read more....

Mercedes-Benz; Backwards to the future?

“Engineered like no other car” was Clint Eastwood's verdict after driving a Mercedes SL off a rooftop in buddy-cop thriller The Rookie. And he was right, certainly by 1990 standards. His were commercially lucrative words; the R129 generation SL was a brand new car; the previous R107 having been produced for an impressive 16 years. After such cosy familiarity, the new order would take some getting used to. The new car needed some heavyweight promotion behind it and Mercedes-Benz were delighted by this opportunity

In my previous article about the A-Class, I questioned the notion of Mercedes-Benz-ness. And, with unprecedented predictability, today's feature car sums up my view.

Click to read more....