One of these more overlooked Mercedes-AMG models since the turn of the millennium was the very short-lived C209 CLK55 AMG coupe. You might be wondering how a car that ran from the 2003 to 2005 model year can be short-lived, but looking at the production numbers you see how rare they really are. In 2003, they sold a reasonable 761 cars here. 2004? Down to 509. The final year of 2005? Only 247. Considering there were roughly 350 Mercedes-Benz dealers in the US at that time, you were lucky to see one. Even though they are rare, there is not exactly much demand for them as they suffer from the curse of the CLK-Class. That is a thing totally made up by me, but let me explain.
Despite the CLK-Class looking like an E-Class coupe and Mercedes wanting you to think that, it rides on the W203 C-Class platform. That means a lot of shared parts, which isn’t a good thing when talking about the W203. Naturally, the drivetrain of the 5.4-liter M113 V8 with the 722.6 five-speed automatic is a gem, but the interior is a real letdown on these cars with the cheap plastic on almost everything you touch. Still, for this amount of money, who is to complain?
