Final Edition could signal the end of Merc’s smallest drop-top

Internet, it’s time to say farewell to Mercedes’ littlest roadster.

The SLC - which until 2016 was called the SLK - has been around since 1996. You’ll remember it for basically starting the whole folding hard-top thing, which peaked in the mid-Noughties when Ford, Peugeot, Vauxhall, Renault, Nissan, Volvo and others decided to get in on the action. That none of these manufacturers still build a folding hard-top ought to give you some idea of how it worked out for them…

It’s always worked for Mercedes, however. Though its C-, S- and E-Class cabriolets all use fabric roofs, the SLC/K has stuck with the folding hard-top through each of its three generations. And now could be your last chance to buy one, because later this year the third-gen SLC will go out of production. And supposedly no replacement is due.

The Final Edition gets optional yellow paint as a homage to the first-gen SLK, which was also available in yellow. It’s based on the normal AMG Line model, but gets extra equipment as standard, plus bespoke wheels and bumpers. Engine-wise, Final Edition spec can be paired with 1.6- or 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines in the SLC 180, 200 and 300, or a 383bhp V6 in the form of the AMG SLC 43.

Will we miss the SLC, if this is its ultimate end? Well, it’s never been our favourite Mercedes, that’s for certain, and in recent years it’s been somewhat outshone by the much newer Audi TT, its main competitor. But yes, we will miss it. For all its flaws, little roadsters like the SLC are hard to come by nowadays, so the news one of the few is going out of production is A Bad Thing.

We’ll see it at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, where it will appear alongside a run-out SL (the SL will be replaced, however) called the Grand Edition.

STORY Tom Harrison