1. Believe it or not, this is the first time Mercedes has offered a convertible version of its venerable C-Class, which has been around for over 20 years
2. It’ll also be one of the first Australian C-Classes to offer four-wheel drive. C43 variants, which are tuned by Mercedes’ performance arm, AMG, send their power to all four wheels for greater traction.
3. There are two versions of the cloth roof available: a standard option, or a thicker multi-layer ‘acoustic’ version that significantly reduces wind and road noise. Both designs draw inspiration from the cloth roof on Mercedes’ flagship S-Class Cabriolet.
4. If personalisation is your thing, the C-Class Cabriolet has you covered. Its roof is available in four colour choices: brown, blue, black or if you’re brave, red.
5. The roof mechanism itself weighs around 50kg. Combine this with 70-odd kilograms worth of structural bracing and Cabriolet versions of the C-Class weigh roughly 125kg more than their hardtop siblings
6. The air conditioning is clever, and even knows when you drop the roof. When the roof is closed the a/c operates in the same way as it does in the C-Class Coupe, but when you drop it the system blows warmer air, or cooler if it’s summer, onto the driver’s hands.
7. The leather is high-tech. Special “heat-reflecting” leather is available that keeps the seats cooler when exposed to direct sunlight – handy in hot climates like Australia.
8. Every engine in range-topping C63 AMG variants is handmade by a single technician, thanks to AMG’s ‘one man one engine’ philosophy. Each V8 takes around two to three hours to assemble and carries a plaque with the technician’s signature.
9. If lugging stuff around is a priority, then the Cabriolet isn’t the C-Class for you. With the roof down, the Cabriolet’s 285L of boot space is 115L less than the Coupe’s.
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