Category: Compact Executive 
Price Range: £33,411 to £68,923
Svelte pillarless looks, ample equipment, refined performance, bulletproof quality.
Handling could be sharper, high-performance versions come at a high price.
Classy if dated and largely uninspiring, although AMG versions are in a different league.
Like the Sports Coupe, the CLK is based on the 2000-2007 C-Class, but where the Sports Coupe is a hatch with a modern, more youthful look, the CLK is a classical, timeless coupe (and cabriolet, reviewed separately).
There are three trim levels and an engine line-up comprising two diesels (the 148bhp 220 CDI and 221bhp 320 CDI) and six petrols: 182bhp supercharged 1.8-litre 200K, the 228bhp 280, the 268bhp 350, the 383bhp 500, and two versions of the 63 AMG from Mercedes' tuning division. The regular one makes 474bhp from its 6.2-litre naturally aspirated V8, while the stripped-out Black Series version has revised breathing and produces 500bhp.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mercedes CLK-Class Cabriolet
wrote on 17 07 2006