The SLK’s iconic status over the years has caused buyers to snap them up at a rapid rate of knots, sometimes just because it came with the kudos of owning a Mercedes soft top.

If I’m honest, my knowledge of the the SLK is quite limited, having only had a brief flirtation with the model several years ago.

However, several colleagues and people in the trade that I had spoken to had said that, although it looked the part, it didn’t really have the performance to match and was a little noisy. Not one to listen to others at the best of times, I approached my week behind the wheel of the SLK with an open mind.

From an outward appearance it would appear that Mercedes had certainly revamped and re-shaped the whole of the car and it certainly looks more aggressive and masculine, I am sure this has been done to increase the number of male drivers as, let’s be honest, the outgoing model was a little feminine looking.

The lines are more cutting and the front end slightly more fearsome looking, the refinement and German styling is still there but the model has now more of a universal appeal.

The interior was pretty much as I had expected but the red leather upholstery was a nice touch. The dash and steering wheel was typical Mercedes with pretty much the same tried and tested equipment that supplements so many of their models. For those of you not in the know the excellent in-car (or COMAND) system with its 6.5 inch colour screen has everything from sat-nav, mobile connection to DVD capability and is nicely set in a well finished black and chrome dash and fascia. The three spoke steering wheel follows this lead giving you a genuine sports car feel in the cockpit.

Now, I love innovation and anything new always attracts my interest. So when I discovered that Mercedes had introduced a heating system into the headrests to generate a pocket of warmth when driving roofless on those colder days I had to try it. The aptly named AirScarf is a wonderful addition, works well and is long overdue. Well done Mercedes.

As I stated earlier it was generally thought that the roadster lacked performance and Mercedes have tackled this head on with the introduction of three engines: the 1.8 163bhp, the 3.5 272bhp and the 55 AMG engine which boasts a huge 360bhp from its 5.5 litre V8.

The SLK 200 was the model I was blessed with and I can safely say that Mercedes have now matched sports car performance to its sports car looks. It is faster and develops more torque than its predecessor and apparently uses around eight per cent less fuel.

The performance is backed up by the agility and road holding qualities supplied by the new front axle and steering design, the multilink suspension and, of course, the ESP system.

From a safety point of view it is up there with everything in its class, the body has been strengthened, roll over protection has been improved, larger front end crumple zones have been incorporated as well as two stage airbags, newly developed head/thorax side airbags and seat-belt force limiters.

The finishing touches of the new fully electronic Vario roof system and 16 inch five spoke alloys really make the new SLK the ‘real thing’ when it comes to motoring and viewing pleasure.

I feel this little treasure will be appearing on a lot of men’s Christmas wish lists, I don’t think it left many women’s lists. I would add it to mine but I fear the wife would commandeer it.

Prices range from £27730.00 (SLK 200 entry model)