“SEEING ITS BEAUTIFULLY ENGINEERED ROOF - DEPLOYED OR FOLDED IN JUST 25 SECONDS OTHER MANUFACTURERS WERE QUICK TO IMITATE”
50 Mercedes SLK (R170)
Years produced: 1996-2004
Price then/now: £31,500/£1,000
Engine: 2.3-litre supercharged 4cyl petrol, 193bhp
Top speed: 142mph 0-62mph: 7.4 seconds
MANY brands had dabbled with the idea of a folding hard-top roof before the SLK, but it was Mercedes’s compact cabriolet that popularised the concept.
Seeing its beautifully engineered roof – deployed or folded in just 25 seconds – and the way it offered a more year-round-friendly cabriolet ownership experience, other manufacturers were quick to imitate. Although the car itself was pretty damn good, the Mercedes SLK will be remembered mostly for its roof, which for a time seemed like the death knell for fabric convertible roofs that were popular before.
Advances in that realm have rendered folding hardtops largely obsolete, though, and the SLK – later renamed SLC – model line is no more. A shame.
49 Vauxhall Vectra (B)
Years produced: 1995-2000
Price then/now: £14,000/£800 Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl petrol, 134bhp
Top speed: 131mph 0-62mph: 9.6 seconds
THE Vectra B – the last car Vauxhall made in its Luton plant – may not have been quite as competitive as the Cavalier it replaced, but its significance in the nineties can’t be overstated. It was affordable and made a great long-distance cruiser, and fleet managers adored it. The platform proved its potential in the BTCC Super Touring era-inspired Supertouring 200, too.
48 Fiat Multipla
Years produced: 1998-2004 Price then/now: £16,000/£1,500
Engine: 1.9-litre 4cyl diesel, 103bhp Top speed: 106mph
0-62mph: 12.4 seconds
AUTO Express once described the Multipla as “a family car that not only scares children, but makes their parents wince, too”. But we’ve grown more appreciative of what the Fiat was trying to do: be a little different in a class that offered little in the way of visual excitement. The car worked well as an MPV, with its three-abreast front seating arrangement helping it to accommodate six people within its relatively short footprint. Huge windows meant it felt airy inside, too, but many couldn’t look past the styling.
47 Saab 9-5
Years produced: 1997-2010 Price then/now: £23,000/£1,000
Engine: 2.3-litre 4cyl turbocharged petrol, 168bhp
Top speed: 141mph 0-62mph: 8.5 seconds
GENERAL Motors ownership meant the replacement for the ageing 9000 had to use the same platform as the Vauxhall Vectra B, but that didn’t stop Saab adding all its usual quirks. These included the strange ignition slot placement, the jet fighter-inspired ‘Night Panel’, and Saab’s own H engine with vast quantities of turbo boost. Aero HOT models made 227bhp and later 247bhp, all shoved through the front wheels. German rivals always drove better, but the 9-5 was a great alternative.
46 Skoda Felicia
Years produced: 1994-2001
Price then/now: £6,000/£1,000
Engine: 1.3-litre petrol 4cyl, 67bhp
Top speed: 94mph 0-62mph: 15.5 secs
THE Felicia is a milestone car for Skoda. It was the first model the firm built under Volkswagen Group ownership, and while the supermini shared much with its Favorit predecessor, it was a huge leap forward for the brand. The Felicia transformed Skoda’s image from that of a maker of old-fashioned, poorly built cars to one that could produce dependable and great-value products. Judging by various ownership surveys, drivers loved the
