T
he success of the original
Mazda MX-5 – conceived in
America, based on a British
theme and built in Japan –
didn’t go unnoticed in
Germany. By the middle of
the 1990s, both BMW and
Mercedes-Benz had added compact two-seater
sports cars to their line-ups. But neither the Z3,
from BMW, nor Mercedes’ SLK delivered the
same kind of tactile feedback as the Mazda, nor
compensated with the kind of power and perfor-
mance their premium badges suggested.
Sales were strong, but their image among
enthusiasts wasn’t. When Pierce Brosnan’s 007
was shown driving a Z3 in 1995’s Goldeneye, it was
at the wheel of a feeble 140bhp 1.9-litre, the only
engine available. Its opposite number at Stutt-
gart had a supercharger strapped to its ‘four’, but
saddled with an automatic ’box and dull recircu-
lating-ball steering it was hardly more sporting
to drive. Six-cylinder variants of both followed,
true, but so did the hairdresser jibes...
EnterAMGandBMW’sMDivision.House-
holdnamestoday,butbackin thelate1990sthey
werestillfairlynicheplayersbuildingbespoke
high-performanceversionsofmainstream
saloons.AMGhadbeenmodifyingBenzessince
1967,anddoingit withMercedes’co-operation
from’92.ButtheAffalterbachfirmonlybecame
a fullmemberof theStuttgartfamilyin 1999.
‘M’cars,meanwhile,wereprobablymore
recognisedonUKroads,buthardlynumerous.
Upuntil1995,BMWMotorsportwasstillhand-building M5s at Garching. Both badges, though,
were about to join the sports car mainstream,
turning the meek SLK and Z3 into demonic
drop-tops that would win over enthusiasts and
act as halo cars for the rest of their ranges.
Expensive when new, they’re now affordable –
you could pick up an example of either for less
than £15k – and interest is picking up.
But before we get on with this Y2K ripped-
roadster shootout, let’s deal with the Arctic
Silver elephant that’s very definitely in the room,
and not in this test. We’re talking about the
Boxster, the game-changing sports car that
helped pull Porsche back from the brink of
financial collapse. And, as if we didn’t need
a further reminder, when we pick up the SLK
from the Havant-based Performance Car
Company there’s a pristine 3.2 S in the show-
room, with fewer miles on the clock than the
Benz and up for considerably less cash.
The Boxster should be the default choice
today, as it was in magazine tests 20 years ago.
But let’s suppose you don’t fancy the Porsche,
andtherearereasonsyoumightnot.There’sthe
internet-exaggeratedfearthattheenginewill
grenadeitself,a fondnessforthemoretradi-
tionalfeelofa front-engined,rear-drivesports
car,andthefactthattheBoxster– eventheS –
justisn’tthatquick.Sixsecondsto60mph?An
impressivefeat,ordinarily,butrenderedordi-
narybytoday’spair.Autocartimedboththe
MRoadsterandtheSLK32in thefoursin a 2001
twintest,theMercedestaking4.9secstoreach
60mph,theBMWarrivinga tenthsooner.140 Classic & Sports Car September 2019
‘Keep your foot in and the
M pulls well past the point
where the SLK throws in
the towel, its note shifting
with each spin of the crank’
From top: notchy five-
speed gearshift and blue-
tinted dash date the Z3
as a child of the late ’90s;
classic roadster look with
long bonnet and short tail