I was in London when the first R230 came out, and in the flesh it is a stunning-looking car. (The showroom was in Slough of all places, JJ).
But in photos - and even on tv - as in one of last year's BBC "Top Gear" programs when host and owner Jeremy Clarkson was crowing about it and we saw his on the track, it looks decidedly ordinary.
We had several here in the Wellington dealership from time to time, and the crowning feature on the one I saw was the tough black overcoat finish... a kind of super paint that looked absolutely fantastic. As for the features - no contest.
No photo actually does it justice. I wouldn't buy one from a catalog, but I would from the showroom.
Ken Silver
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~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons:
http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate (my wife's)
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey/grey leather, best in country!
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5 and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.