I was a huge fan of the original C208, then they dropped the ball on the hideous C209(somewhat redeemed by the Black Series edt. CLK63). Now here we are again at the dawn of a new CLK. With the design, engineering, and handling of the W204 C-class my expectations for this car are petty high. Hopefully they'll have nipped the design in the bud too. Any guesses for release of this model? I think the C209 was released in '03? Which puts it two years after the intro of the W203 sedan, so '10 then for the C210, too long.

Not sure either. The W208 was a short run that could have gone longer and the W209 is a longer run that should be shorter. The C210, my guess will be shown sometime in 2009 and go on sale in the U.S. for the 2010 model year. Ditto for the E since the were both introduced for 2003 last time around. We should be seeing spy pics and what not real soon. My question is whether or not it will be a folding hardtop this time around, everybody else (except Audi) has one.

M

The new CLK will be C207 not C210.

The C207 shouls be due in the 1st half of 2009.

The A207 (cabrio) should be due in the 2nd half of 2009.

No word yet on whether the A207 will be a folding hard top or traditional soft top.

So they're going backwards in the numbering system huh? Interesting. I guess it doesn't matter to 99.9 percent of the car-buying world. Only us car geeks even know (or care) this stuff.

M

Shouldnt this car come sooner? Its outclassed by both A5 and E92 and need a replacement.

The C209 was introduced in 2002 and has a life cycle of 7 years so the C207 was always going to be due in 2009. Development of a new model takes several years and rushing a model to market would be foolish (risking reliabilty issues or poor assembly through incomplete testing). Better to take time to develop a car properly than to launch it before it is ready.