Other Classics We Own / Owned or Admire

[colr6]

They were/ are a sweet little motor. Finding a decent one is a job and half. Apparently the 1.6 version is the one to go for being somewhat rare than its counterpart the 1.9 shove a m16 engine out the 405 and it’s a wicked motor. Most of them were wrecked by the young uns, ambitions and capability’s spring to mind which I’m sure most of us have suffered with at one time or another. Or another term, ran out of road 🤭🤭...lol would think a decent one would be in the twenties by now.

[meXEco]

They seem to start at 5k for a half decent one-upto 10k/15k+ for minters-not sure if they are selling for that tho.

I actually had one about 17 years ago-I didn't add it to my list as it was bought to flip. My mate had 2 of them and wanted rid-so I bought one for £300 I think it was-minter too-and a new set of Spax adjustables all round in boxes for £150. I sold the Spax a week later for £300, and the Gti I sold 2 weeks later for £500. Another one I should have kept...

[katana]

Everything from this - https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1156265 to this - https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1156964

I had a 1.9L version for a year or so as a company car, it was quick'ish and handled ok'ish but it was built by chimps! I just never really got on with it - I think overall the 1.6L was the better of the two!

[khanlad]

, 1.9 with the 1.6 box on it, 1.9 had disc all round too, but people swore the 1.6 handled better, not sure why? or as col said m16, great cars, the best hot hatch in my mind, although the 16v clio was a good car too, nothing came close to mine in their day, although i was fearless with mahoosive ten-tit-cles then, williams just that bit better. All light as a box of feathers, bet they are pants now? 

[accord83]

I preferred the 309 to the 205, I found they landed squarer, not a tad nose heavy like the 205. (But they were diesel Police cars)😁

[khanlad]

The west mids had 309's they were shocking

[khanlad]

309 gti were nice, never had one though, a mates mum had a xs that was ok for its day

[accord83]

1 minute ago, khanlad said:

The west mids had 309's they were shocking

I loved mine, but the pump had been wound out some, (got bored on night shift). It smoked like a scrap mans bonfire when on full gas.

[Rally Pack 2000]

Anyone here ever owned one of these? One of the few FWD cars that I have considered owning (another being the 205GTi) Would love to hear from someone who has owned or driven one.

I was a member of Club Lotus for a while and for some strange reason no one ever came to any meetings with one for me to check out up close. Bizarrely though at one of the Club Lotus paddock turn outs where everyone likes to do swappsies to sample other models I traded a drive of my Twincam for a members Honda NSX round the buckets in a field.

[Vista]

On 19/09/2019 at 17:46, meXEco said:

They seem to start at 5k for a half decent one-upto 10k/15k+ for minters-not sure if they are selling for that tho.

I actually had one about 17 years ago-I didn't add it to my list as it was bought to flip. My mate had 2 of them and wanted rid-so I bought one for £300 I think it was-minter too-and a new set of Spax adjustables all round in boxes for £150. I sold the Spax a week later for £300, and the Gti I sold 2 weeks later for £500. Another one I should have kept...

Somebody is hoping for a hell of a lot more than that for this one!  

 

[Rally Pack 2000]

1 minute ago, Vista said:

Somebody is hoping for a hell of a lot more than that for this one!  

 

Gosh I can cross those off my list of cars I will own that's out of my range now!

[notenoughtime]

I’ve owned on of those! I’ll add it to the list 

not worth that money 

[Rally Pack 2000]

On 14/09/2019 at 20:45, Vista said:

I think you were on the money with the series 1 SLK. Get a 6 cylinder one though. 

So what are the engine variations for those? Supercharged 4 cyl or V6s? A straight 6 might be nice. I want the simplest and most reliable not necessarily the most powerful. What gearbox options do they come in? Basic 5 speed manuals and 4 speed Autos?

[Vista]

57 minutes ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

So what are the engine variations for those? Supercharged 4 cyl or V6s? A straight 6 might be nice. I want the simplest and most reliable not necessarily the most powerful. What gearbox options do they come in? Basic 5 speed manuals and 4 speed Autos?

Early on a few markets had a N/A 2 litre (SLK 200) but it wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Then there was a Supercharged 4 cylinder in 2 litre and 2.3 litre, N/A 3.2 litre V6 and Supercharged 3.2 litre V6. If ultimate performance isn't your goal I would go for the N/A 3.2 V6. 

Gearbox options:

5-speed manual (Getrag)
6-speed manual from 2001 (Getrag)
5 speed 5G-Tronic automatic (Mercedes) The AMG versions were equipped with Speedshift

Personally I would choose the auto. 

Good details here

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_SLK-Class_(R170)

 

[Rally Pack 2000]

58 minutes ago, Vista said:

Early on a few markets had a N/A 2 litre (SLK 200) but it wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Them there was a Supercharged 4 cylinder in 2 litre and 2.3 litre, N/A 3.2 litre V6 and Supercharged 3.2 litre V6. If ultimate performance isn't your goal I would go for the N/A 3.2 V6. 

Gearbox options:

5-speed manual (Getrag)
6-speed manual from 2001 (Getrag)
5G-Tronic automatic (Mercedes)

Personally I would choose the auto. 

Good details here

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_SLK-Class_(R170)

 

Thanks for that it was very helpful. I saw one today while I was walking the dog in Silver and it really looked nice. Sleek and simple without all the lumps and bumps and weird taillight designs like modern cars and it got me back to thinking about them.

An Auto would be best as this is meant as en every day city run around but if there was a manual at a good price that would be acceptable. I read a bit about the 5g-Tronic but no where is it stated how you could move it through the gears manually? Even the basic 2lt can do under ten seconds so they arent all that bad. I have never seen a V6 one here only supercharged 4s but that's not to say they don't exist just that they seem to be the most popular.

One thing odd I have noticed with them is that all their headlights seem to have gone yellow as if they are made of plastic?

Is the boot space strictly for the roof or is there room for shopping?

[Vista]

13 minutes ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

Thanks for that it was very helpful. I saw one today while I was walking the dog in Silver and it really looked nice. Sleek and simple without all the lumps and bumps and weird taillight designs like modern cars and it got me back to thinking about them.

An Auto would be best as this is meant as en every day city run around but if there was a manual at a good price that would be acceptable. I read a bit about the 5g-Tronic but no where is it stated how you could move it through the gears manually? Even the basic 2lt can do under ten seconds so they arent all that bad. I have never seen a V6 one here only supercharged 4s but that's not to say they don't exist just that they seem to be the most popular.

One thing odd I have noticed with them is that all their headlights seem to have gone yellow as if they are made of plastic?

Is the boot space strictly for the roof or is there room for shopping?

There is room under the roof in the boot when it's down. Not a lot but enough for some shopping, providing you're not doing a weekly shop for a family of five. I lived with one as my only car for several years so it's definitely do-able. The 230 Kompressor is plenty quick enough and from memory, you can push the gear lever to the left and click back and forth to manually shift gears on an auto. The auto is a nicer box than the manual. 

Yes the headlights do go like that but you can polish it out. 

[Rally Pack 2000]

16 minutes ago, Vista said:

There is room under the roof in the boot when it's down. Not a lot but enough for some shopping, providing you're not doing a weekly shop for a family of five. I lived with one as my only car for several years so it's definitely do-able. The 230 Kompressor is plenty quick enough and from memory, you can push the gear lever to the left and click back and forth to manually shift gears on an auto. The auto is a nicer box than the manual. 

Yes the headlights do go like that but you can polish it out. 

Thanks, I just found a Youtube video and the boot is quite reasonable if you don't have the roof down which is best left up if its parked at the shops anyways. Given what I have seen about availability here the 230 Kompresor is the most likely choice.

So there is something with the headlights then, I was wondering if it was just an Australian hot weather thing. They look a bit cheap when they go yellow like that.

It seems not to go for one of the bright interior ones as the paint colour seems prone to peeling so best to stick to black by the looks of it.

[colr6]

23 minutes ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

It seems not to go for one of the bright interior ones as the paint colour seems prone to peeling so best to stick to black by the looks of it.

Don’t think that would be advisable in your sun with the hood down, especially if your donning ones mankini to keep cool. Won’t only be the car that gets hot!

[Vista]

3 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

So there is something with the headlights then, I was wondering if it was just an Australian hot weather thing. They look a bit cheap when they go yellow like that.

I don't think it's that common here so heavy sun damage may be more an Australian thing. As I said though, they can usually be polished up.

[Rally Pack 2000]

3 hours ago, colr6 said:

Don’t think that would be advisable in your sun with the hood down, especially if your donning ones mankini to keep cool. Won’t only be the car that gets hot!

While the SE Elan and the SLK are two cars I like that are good value I'm certainly not in any way focusing on convertibles. Even in summer most likely the roof would be up with the aircon on. It would only be on rare mild days I would put the top down. I have traditionally preferred tin top cars. The SLK is just a bonus that it is both. The trouble with the SLK is that its interior is the same as some American Crossfire or something and the plastics and finish of 80's 90s American cars makes French plastics look sun proof.

34 minutes ago, Vista said:

I don't think it's that common here so heavy sun damage may be more an Australian thing. As I said though, they can usually be polished up.

I cant image they are actually plastic but glass going yellow like that is really cheap quality. I had some square Escort ones go like that but no amount of polish would get the yellow out. But this was during that era of Mercedes cutting costs and the reputation plumed from quality issues.

I'm still open to suggestions if anyone thinks they are really good value in compared to what they sold for new as an everyday run around.

[Vista]

6 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

I'm still open to suggestions if anyone thinks they are really good value in compared to what they sold for new as an everyday run around.

Did you get these in Australia?

[Rally Pack 2000]

3 hours ago, Vista said:

Did you get these in Australia?

Is that a Z4? Yes we do but the dont seem to depreciate like the SLKs so they are still quite pricey

[Vista]

3 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

Is that a Z4? Yes we do but the dont seem to depreciate like the SLKs so they are still quite pricey

Yes it is. Interesting RE depreciation, you can get an early one for a few thousand pounds over here. 

[katana]

Good early Boxster - sub 5k ?

[Rally Pack 2000]

1 hour ago, Vista said:

Yes it is. Interesting RE depreciation, you can get an early one for a few thousand pounds over here. 

 

15 minutes ago, katana said:

Good early Boxster - sub 5k ?

Yes I had heard that on a motoring show that on the used market they were incredibly cheap there. Our cars depreciate ridiculously too but the markets here and there seem to determine they depreciate at different rates. A Boxster too probably even less so as Porsche has an elevated elusive brand label here over and above what you see in Europe and the USA and as such they are very expensive. I considered a 944 once that was going for 2000 quid at a local dealer but it was auto which at the time I didn't think was any good for a sports car. Now I would consider an auto as a run around and now you cant get a 944 for under 5 times that.