Someone naughty and/or incompetent has allowed a video of the new Mercedes-Benz SLK to appear on the internet early. Or it could be a Paris Hilton job?
Either way, this is the new SLK, screen grabbed from a ten-minute promo video in French that found its way online over the weekend. Mercedes has already started pulling it down on copyright grounds, though as we type you can still view it below.
It was due to be unveiled in January before making an official debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, then going on sale in April 2011. The on-sale date is unlikely to change, but it is likely Mercedes will bring the release forward now.
We already know quite a bit about the car, and the promo video confirms the inclusion of safety features such as Pre-Safe and Attention Assist. Respectively, those systems mitigate the effects of an imminent crash and awaken tiring drivers.
Four engines will appear at launch, one of them diesel. That one's badged SLK 250 CDI and has 204bhp, which is exactly the same output as the SLK 250 petrol. The basic SLK 200 has 184bhp, and the SLK 350 306bhp. An AMG version is inevitable.
The car grows upwards, outwards and, erm, length-wards. Mercedes says this is to make the two-seater bigger inside and give it more boot space. The company also promises a more rewarding drive, with adaptive damping an optional extra, including a sport mode.