First look: Benz takes gas-axe to S-class

HAVE the Mercedes-Benz designers been getting a bit too festive in the lead-up to the North American International Auto Show? Or is the world’s most revered car marque about to create yet another market niche by reviving one of motoring’s long-extinct indulgences – the four-door convertible.

Either way, based on the V12-powered long-wheelbase S600L, the Concept Ocean Drive will make a splash at Detroit in January, when it’s publicly revealed by Mercedes for the first time.

Claimed to be a "one-off study", the COD also appears to communicate a new direction in Benz’s exterior deign language – a fact the company appears to be uncharacteristically frank about.

"The Concept Ocean Drive is an awe-inspiring jewel on wheels. As a four-door convertible, it belongs in a luxury genre that has almost disappeared from our roads ... it represents automobile culture at its most attractive and desirable," said the press release that accompanied these images.

"The Concept Ocean Drive isn't just designed to inspire dreams and fantasies it also serves a very practical purpose. Because design studies are always a good opportunity for designers to play around with less familiar themes, to see things from new angles and to explore new ideas.

"Not just a pure design exercise, they are also a way of stimulating a closer dialogue with customers and of trying out new ideas on the general public. This helps the designers get a feel for future styling trends and to develop and implement new design idioms.

"The unique luxury convertible design study from Stuttgart turns a ‘dream car’ vision into reality. The Mercedes-Benz design philosophy both perpetuate proven styling themes associated with the brand and at the same time combines them with new and surprising ideas and forms."Four doors aside, a large and upright new grille is the most striking feature of the soft-topped S-class concept, while two-tone paint and LED headlights and tail-lights reinforce the luxury theme.

The lack of a B-pillar or window frames is integral to the sleek profile, while of course there’s an abundance of existing Benz tech like the Airscarf neck-level heating system, the Pre-Safe anticipatory occupant protection system and Distronic Plus radar cruise control.