My god - you hit the nail absolutely on the head. My main criticism of the CLA? Cover the badge and ask yourself “Who made this car? Mazda? Hyundai? Kia?” The Germanic lines, the creases, the parts of a Mercedes that look like a Mercedes are completely absent. That’s why I’ll stick with my CLC, and possibly replace it…

Balance and Handling? The SLK is beautifully balanced, and handles very well. I could steer mine nicely on the throttle, and the steering transition from neutral to oversteer was smooth and easy to both achieve and hold. Perhaps you could take one for a drive before you make that assumption?

I currently own a 2009 Mercedes CLC200K with a 6 speed manual gearbox, the same engine, gearbox suspension & steering setup as a 2005+ SLK200.

I agree about the finesse & character. I owned an N/A Aerotop Supra, and even without the turbos it was a car with dependable handling and light weight for it’s size. One of the best GT cars I’ve ever driven.

I’d have one in a heartbeat.

Try and find a manual Mercedes in Australia. Every week I get a notification that 2 “manual” Mercedes have been listed for sale. Without fail, they are auto. So far I’ve had 3 legitimate manual cars come up for sale, including the one I currently own. 

I owned a ‘96 Suzuki Across 250cc motorbike with all of 12 litres of fuel. (3 gallons) and just two warning lights to tell you the fuel level.

My mother’s rule when it came to assembling the roof on her daily driven Morgan was that if it wasn’t raining, the roof was down.

I drove almost 1800kms round trip to collect my 2009 Mercedes CLC. It is pretty unusual for Australia as it was a factory delivered 6 speed manual. So far I have only seen one other CLC with that gearbox.

My Mother is no longer with us, but we still have her dream car, a 1976 Morgan Plus 8.