ALWAYS a good looker and a breakthrough car in its own way thanks to the retractable metal roof, the original SLK is now making way for generation II. While the fundamental design philosophy is unaltered, there are many significant changes to the mechanical package that make this a better car, while the styling is simply outstanding. Initially, we get two engine variants in Australia - a supercharged 1.8-litre and a brand-new 3.5-litre V6. Both have their attributes and their issues, while big dollar petrol-heads can look forward to the AMG V8 hot-rod in the second quarter of 2005.