Andrew Hamilton on the unbeatable allure of the Mercedes-Benz CLK
We have always been fascinated by the appeal of the coupé among the car-owning classes. It's a bit like nouvelle cuisine, where the diners pay more to eat less. What's the compensation we may all ask? In both cases it has to be the feel-good factor: style and image.
The Mercedes-Benz CLK is a familiar sight on the Irish streetscape and could be even more familiar if Mercedes-Benz here did not have a huge waiting list. CLK customers are easily prepared to forfeit the practicality of a saloon for the sleeker lines of the coupé. It's a sure bid for a touch of individuality, something a bit special that does not lose the essential qualities of the four-door saloon.
The saloon in question, predictably is the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. A journalist colleague admitted to finding the several guises of the C-Class slightly confusing. That's understandable for there's the Sports Coupé, cheapest of the grown-up Mercs on the Irish price list. In spite of the alluring name, it's really a three-door hatchback, introduced to counter the BMW 3-series Compact. The real C-Class coupé is the CLK and amazingly it has already gone on sale on the Irish market ahead of the international press launch.
Irish prices start at €53,540 ex-works for the 200 Kompressor model and customers here have a choice of six engines and three transmission variants. Much attention is concentrated on the 270Cdi, a five-cylinder 2,685cc engine with 170bhp. A diesel engine in a fashionable coupé is a powerful message of the strength and popularity of the diesel engine these days.
Although the CLK is based on the C-Class saloon, the stylists have given it a subtle shift so that it now bears a closer resemblance to the company's more expensive coupés - the big CL and the two-seater SL, probably the most desirable of all cars to carry the three-pointed badge.
The CLK has no centre door pillar, so the windows, front and rear, can be retracted to form a single space. With all the windows down, it looks good in a strange sort of way.
BUYERS of the CLK choose not to have the space and practicality of the C-Class saloon and estate, so four rather than five seats and a shortage of head and legroom in the back, are not likely to cause an upset. Certainly, the driver and front-seat passenger have every comfort and are confronted by a fascia incorporating some of the best bits from other recent Mercedes.
Mechanically, the CLK follows the C-Class saloons. It does not imitate the sportier feel of the BMW 3-series Coupé: the Merc is not in the same league as a high performance flyer. The road behaviour is well-mannered and impressive but in the efficient way of a Mercedes saloon rather than a disguised sports car.
There's one exception for the top version of the CLK is the only derivative of the C-Class with a V8 engine - the 306bhp 5.0 litre V8 from the SL. The CLK is fast, limited to 155mph and it will go from 0 to 60mph in less than six seconds. An even faster 367bhp AMG version will be coming late in the year. The full range of C-Class is almost complete with the arrival of the CLK. There's only one more variant to look forward to, the CLK convertible, and that is due next year.