1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK - CLK 230 Kompressor

CLK Coupé in nearly-new condition

Exceptional state of preservation and care

193-HP-Kompressor-engine and manual gearbox

From its first German owner

Extensively equipped

When Mercedes introduced the CLK in 1997, the name was new, but the recipe behind it was decidedly familiar. Technically, the C 208-series coupé was largely based on the W 202 C-Class, yet visually its four elliptical headlamps pushed it deliberately towards the E-Class. The result was an elegant two-door that looked considerably more expensive than its technical underpinnings might have suggested. Not a bad trick.

Mercedes was equally generous when it came to engines. The range extended from the well-mannered CLK 200 through supercharged four-cylinders and six-cylinder models to the CLK 430 with its 4.3-litre V8. And because even that was apparently not enough, AMG took care of the rest. With 347 hp, the CLK 55 AMG turned the elegant coupé into a fairly serious sports car – without resorting to spoilers the size of garden furniture.

The A 208 Cabriolet followed in 1998, offering four proper seats and an electrically operated fabric hood for those who preferred the more relaxed side of the CLK. Indeed, therein lay much of its appeal: it could be a comfortable grand tourer, a suitably distinguished coupé and, if desired, a pretty quick fellow all at once.

The first-generation CLK Coupé and Cabriolet remained in production until 2002. Today, the C 208 seems pleasantly understated. For a while, it was simply a used Mercedes. We are now beginning to realise that this can be quite a compliment.

This CLK 230 Kompressor, finished in Brilliant Silver metallic (744), was treated to by a couple in their prime in the summer of 1999. She was born in 1935, he in 1932. To complement the timelessly restrained exterior, they chose an Orion Grey cloth interior (418) in the more upmarket Elegance specification. Parktronic (220), an automatically dimming rear-view mirror (249), a memory package for the driver’s seat (275), multicontour seats (404, 405), air conditioning (580), xenon headlamps (612) with a cleaning system (600) and various other amenities made life on board that little bit easier and more pleasant.

Even more impressive than the carefully chosen specification, however, is the CLK’s condition today. While rust has devoured these early CLKs in considerable numbers, what stands before us is a coupé that still presents almost like a year-old car. Its owners must have cared exceptionally well for their Mercedes, now approaching its 30th birthday. Hardly surprising, perhaps, as he was a man who knew his trade. After retiring from professional life, he devoted those skills entirely to the CLK.

An example this carefully preserved and almost untouched may well be unique today. It really has to be seen – even at the risk of returning home afterwards and looking into one’s own garage with a slightly guilty conscience.