Smooth operator
£90,000 (est)
FOR Exemplary ride and handling, magnificent interior, charismatic powertrain
AGAINST Fuel consumption, expensive options
In the Steve Martin film LA Story, his character Harris Telemacher’s existential crisis is amplified by his job: he’s a TV weatherman in a city in which the weather is always the same, warm and sunny. Well this is Harris’s lucky day, for LA’s famous palm trees are being bent double by a mighty storm, the rain is bouncing off the freeway, and the sky is apocalyptically gloomy.
Good for Harris, not so much the new Mercedes SL. This seventh generation of the company’s signature sports car reintroduces a classic soft-top roof after a 20-year dalliance with a bulky folding hard-top. It’s done wonders for the SL’s looks but it’s staying firmly in place for now, as I
