Mercedes SLK 55 AMG
Why 6.5: A hand-built M113 V8 in a small folding-hardtop roadster, sold new for barely more than a loaded SLK350. Cheap enough used that it gets bought by people who actually want to drive an AMG V8, not just own the badge.
Layout
Natural habitat
Ride comfort
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €56k (2005) → €26k (2026), trending down · illustrative data
The long version
The SLK55 undercut every other V8 AMG on price when new, which meant it drew buyers who wanted the drivetrain rather than the flagship status, a formula that still holds in the used market today. It never got the extremes that make the later Black Series version a trophy car: no fixed roof, no track aero, just a torquey naturally aspirated V8 in a comfortable folding-hardtop roadster that a lot of owners genuinely use for weekend and commuting duty. Depreciation has been brutal and long since bottomed out, which is exactly the used-Boxster-adjacent price window that keeps these driven instead of stored. It is the unglamorous, honest sibling to the Black Series parked two rows over at any AMG meet, less special on paper, more likely to have real miles on the odometer.