The "K" does cause confusion. Back in the 1930s it did mean Kompressor for supercharger as in the 540K etc. More recently it has refered to smaller versions. I actually understood the "K" to stand for "short" in German rather than "small" but I may be wrong. The SLK is a short or small SL. The CLK is a short or small CL. The odd one at present seems to be the C-class sports coupe. It is badged just C230 etc. Dealers and others have a habit of refering to it as a CL230 to distinguish it from the sedan. I can't see how it is a CL which is much bigger. It can't be a CLK as that refers to a different model. Maybe CK230 would have been more accurate for short or small C.

The numerals in the model designation have also lost the plot again. The new C180, C200 and C230 in the sports coupe are all 1.8 litre kompressor engines. The replacement for the 3.2 litre S320 and ML320 is the S350 and ML350 at not 3.5 but 3.7 litres. Why do they do this? To think that back in the mid '90s when they had adopted the new class badging system (C, E, S, etc.) everything was working well.

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.