∙Great condition throughout
∙Iconic folding metal hardtop
∙Under 50,000 miles since new
∙Full service history and pristine MOT record

While a lot of the model lines at Mercedes-Benz have huge histories – Mercedes does have the longest history in automotive manufacturing after all – some are much younger. The SLK is a case in point, though it has made something of a name for itself.

Mercedes conceived the SLK in the early 1990s, finally taking the covers off in 1996. It came at broadly the same time as several other quick convertibles – like the Porsche Boxster and Audi TT – as brands saw the success of the Mazda MX-5 and wanted their own versions of the formula.

The SLK, standing for sportlich, leicht, kurz (sporty, light, and compact), certainly interpreted the recipe in its own way, with a then-novel party piece: an electronic, folding, metal roof. Taking underpinnings from the C-Class Mercedes, the SLK was a stylish entry into the class.

Such was the success of the SLK that it became part of Mercedes' mainstream offerings. A second-generation car arrived in 2004, and a third in 2011, taking design cues from the flagship SLS grand tourer.

Sadly, after 25 years, the SLK is no longer with us. Mercedes renamed the car in line with new branding to SLC in 2016, and phased the car out totally in 2020 as it restructured its model lines, with just over 700,000 sold worldwide.

The current owner picked the SLK350 up in December 2017, and was only the car's third to date – having previously changed hands in November 2013 - making for around three years average ownership.

It was first supplied new in October 2012, and spent the early part of its life in the region of Hertfordshire. Since then it has covered a hair under 50,000 miles, with 60% of that coming in the first three years of its life. In fact since 2017, when it moved to Yorkshire, it's only put around 5,000 miles on and that's part of the seller's motivation: to move the car on to someone else to enjoy.

Given that Mercedes keeps electronic records of vehicle service history, you probably wouldn't expect too much by way of paperwork, but there are printed records of the electronic service history showing everything up to date and on schedule at least until the pandemic struck.

Despite the relatively short mileage since the previous service, the current owner had an oil and filter service carried out at a local independent recently. The car's had no major work simply through not needing any – an O2 sensor was replaced in 2019, but that's as big a bill as the car's had.

That's reflected in the MOT history, which is green as far as the eye can see. There's no failures and not even any advisories since its first two tests – and even they weren't mechanical or structural issues. The test certificates and V5C all form part of a pleasingly small paperwork collection, along with the original owner’s manual.

It's a two-seat affair inside the SLK, and it's in great condition throughout. Both seats are close to spotless – naturally a few more signs of use on the driver's side but not really anything we'd class as worn and definitely no damage to the leather. This specification of SLK also comes with “Airscarf” seats, which blow warm air onto the occupants' necks if the roof is down but there's a nip in the air.

The carpets and mats in both sides of the car are in the same great condition, and there's no scuffs or scrapes anywhere on the doors or around where feet may roam. Again, the driver's side kickplate has seen more action than the passenger side, but neither is obviously damaged in any way.

As a relatively modern car, the SLK sports a fairly high specification when it comes to gadgets, including the Mercedes-Benz COMAND interface with a central display screen for phone, media, and navigation. There's a few more buttons than you'll find on very recent cars, though aside from those on the audio system they're picked out or framed in aluminium.

The boot isn't enormous – that hard roof has to fold away somewhere – but it's a reasonable size, as you can see from the picnic hamper for scale purposes. Again it appears undamaged, even down to the cover to prevent you from over-stacking the boot.

While still a relatively young car at just over eight years old, the SLK is in impressive condition. The exterior paintwork – Platinum Silver Metallic - appears blemish free. We couldn't find so much as a stone-chip on it, even on the wing mirror backs, and could probably still be there right now trying to spot anything amiss.

That extends to the 18-inch AMG wheels for the most part too. There's the smallest of marks on the offside-front but you'd need to be a few inches away to catch it. Otherwise they're in pretty close to factory condition; even the lacquer on the centre caps is spotless. The tyres – Pirelli P-Zero at the front and Continental ContiSport rear – are also fairly close to new with plenty of tread remaining.

Underneath the car is also clean and tidy, with no tell-tale spots of fluid or dents. The exposed areas are all more appropriate to an eight-year old car, but there's no areas of concern. In fact all of the various undertrays seem to be original parts and undamaged throughout, despite almost 50,000 miles passing beneath it.

There's no mechanical concerns whatsoever with this SLK. The V6 fires up on the button, and settles down quickly into idle with no untoward noises or hunting for revs. Though restricted to low speeds, neither the engine nor gearbox struggled, and the seven-speed auto functioned without drama in forward and reverse gears. We couldn't find any hint of leaks or drips either.

Again taking the low speeds into account, there were no perceptible issues with the brakes or suspension, and no noises to indicate any problems with either. The electronic handbrake also functions appropriately.

Of course the important part of an SLK is the folding metal roof, and that operates with no fuss either – in fact with barely any noise at all – in both directions. We couldn't spot any issues with any of the other cabin electrics either.

This is a well cared-for example of a car that spawned a thousand imitators; the SLK's folding metal roof was the original in the modern era and remains a key to the appeal of the model, blending coupe looks and security with convertible fun. In the SLK350 you get the sweet spot of the range too, with plenty of performance but not the excess of the range-topping SLK55 AMG.

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