Quite apart from Mercedes filling a niche that ought to have been filled when Helmut Kohl was chancellor, they have bravely painted it metallic raspberry.
The vehicle is labelled the C300 because it is a C-class and because there are 300 stitches to the metre on the interior upholstery. It’s not because it’s a 3.0 litre straight six or anything. These statistics are courtesy of Automotive News: “The C300 comes with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbo engine that generates 241 hp and has a 0-to-60 mph time of 6.3 seconds. Like the C43 coupe, the C43 convertible comes with a 3.0-liter, V-6 biturbo engine that produces 362 hp and can reach 60 mph in 4.7 seconds. The C43 convertible has a top speed of 155 mph.”
If add this to Renault’s gold Scenic we see what looks like a shift in colour sensibilities. Taking off my frivolous hat, this car is very pleasing indeed. After a long time when Mercedes designs looked harsh or coarse, there is in some model-lines a definite shift towards grace. The saloon version, seen in motion, has something of the slippery elegance of ’30s cars. That feeling is carried over here to the cabriolet which brings with it a very strong promise of feel-good.
These cars will make some owners very pleased with life as they drive around the Schwarzwald in early spring and early autumn. I honestly hope that metallic grey is not offered for this car. It deserves better.
Driven To Write 
This is so much nicer than the E-Class droptop or the terrible CLK. Sleek yet distinctive, you can be sure though every possible shade of grey and silver will be available.
Looks pretty good to my eyes – but the Citroen C5 Airscape is still my Number one. Even in grey metallic….
Yes, that was a very elegant convertible interpretation of the C5 saloon – albeit it did not really look like a Citroen.
This would look great with a filled in rear wheel arch.
Do you mean as in “spats”? I love spats (I may have written that before … or even every time we converse about a car with spats).
Yes, spats. That’s what I meant.
Quite amazing to find a contemporary Mercedes that actually looks better than the speculative renderings on the web that preceded it. I’ll almost forgive them the second generation B Class whose awful flanks I had to look at that whilst I was stuck in traffic with it a couple of hours ago.
Sean, I agree with you in the case of saloons. on the other hand, I’m really loving MB’s current coupe offerings. the estates and convertibles are just ok – except for the current-gen SL, whose lines could be a lot better.
I think I’m about to be shouted at (or the written word equivalent of this) as I am going to write that there is something about this car, viewed from the rear 3/4 that reminds me of the DS Decapotable by Chapron. I think it is the rare (for these days) simplicity of the lines that flow along the roofless sides to the A pillar. It’s very elegant and … lovely. This is the first Merc I have seen in a long time that I thought I might like to buy. Amazing!
I generally prefer coupe’s to convertibles, but in this case, the reverse is true. I think one of the main explanations for this is the convertible’s loss of the coupe’s ‘am I a fastback or am I a three-volume coupe’ roofline and rear deck treatment. Also, the corporate ‘Mercedes coupe’ rear styling harmonises with the gently falling tail far better than it does elsewhere. In addition, the C-Class avoids the visual excess of its S-Class brother.
Some friends of mine recently bought an E-Class cabrio – (a decision I had no hand, act or part in I might add). I suspect they’ll be kicking themselves once they catch sight of one of these.
Gorden Wegener in attractive Mercedes shock! Perhaps he’s sobering up?
Although I agree that it is a quite unexpectedly good looking car, possibly the photo above gives it a slightly more interesting looking drooping rear that it actually has. Which is probably good if you want to pack a couple of suitcases for that drive in the Black Forest.
This picture is heavily reducing the “yacht-look” of the car – well, i would keep the w124 cabrio and don´t go for this one.
Is it just my computer screen or does the raspberry car actually have a carrot coloured door and a raspberry body? 🙂
There does seem to be a difference, the rear wing seems darker. This is odd for a show car. The transition of the curve from door to rear wing should be gradual, so the change can’t be explained by them being in a different plane. A bit of last minute damage and a quick re-spray?
Can we see a picture of Richard’s frivilous hat now he’s taken it off?