Buyer's Guide part V: Classic Touring and Modern Style, the CLK-Class

By Scot Hinckley

This is the fifth of my attempts at giving you a practical, hyperbole-and-marketing-speak-free guide to our cars. I won't mention alloy blends, and I won't mention drag coefficient because nobody really cares about that. I spent a lot of time with these cars, and this is simply meant to be my best attempt at giving you my impression.

The CLK-Class (The CLK carries on as the E-Class Coupe as of the 2010 model year)

Ah, my personal wildcard favorite; the CLK (coupe in my case, but the cabrio is really cool too). Speaking of that, the first thing to realize about the CLK is that it comes in many forms. There’s a coupe and a cabrio, which is a soft-top unlike the SLK and SL, both of which use a hard-top. Why? It has 4 seats, and a soft top made more sense, space-wise. It’s a good, modern soft top that keeps out rain and stays quiet. Back to the many forms; in the U.S. there is a V6, a V8, an even bigger V8, and one year there was an even bigger V8. There’s a little more to it than that, but you get the idea (just email me at scothinckleydanielson@philsmart.com if you want to talk engines). There are also a bunch of different wheels that came with the CLK over the years. They’re all pretty cool looking. Speaking of, the CLK just looks really good. Not to gush, but it totally does. Subtle, elegant design that really works. Simple and good.

The next thing that is (possibly) important to realize about the CLK is that it’s not a sports car, not really. The SLK is a roadster-y sports car, the SL is sort of a sports car, but the CLK is really more of a touring car. Not a term you hear very often here in the U.S., but that’s really what it is. It has a luxurious interior, 4 seats, and suspension that is slightly taut but very comfortable for long drives. You can sit down nice and low and the whole cockpit of the car sort of surrounds you. You can get all the gadgetry and stuff if you want, but most CLKs came with very little in the way of options. I, for one, don’t mind at all since the experience of driving a car like this is best enjoyed without all manner of extra filler. It’s way more functional than a sports car because of the extra seats, and because you can fold down those extra seats (in the coupe) and fit an absolutely staggering amount of…well, whatever you want. I once fit an entire bed frame inside one, and another time I fit a 9 foot long roll of paper. Seriously.

So the CLK is a thoroughly modern car, but with the sensibilities of the classic touring cars of days gone by. What about its competitors? I don’t really know what they are, since most car brands tend to overlook the touring car segment. If you like to drive, or you suspect that you’d learn to like to drive if you had a car that would allow you to actually enjoy the act of driving, the CLK is a good choice. If you can simply envision the act of getting in, closing the door, and taking a deep, relaxing breath before setting out for a nice drive in the country…well, you’re already halfway there.



Who should buy one?

Someone who wants something a little different from the norm

Someone who wakes up on a misty Sunday morning and feels like having a nice drive

Someone who needs more than two seats, but less than 5

Someone who doesn’t mind having a car that looks twice as expensive as it actually is

 
Thanks for reading, more to come.

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