History And Overview:

Mercedes-Benz has been building exceptional Cabriolets (called convertibles in the U.S.) for close to one hundred years. In the early part of the 20th century many Mercedes models were open-topped cars like the horse-drawn carriages they replaced. This was the case with most automakers at the time. After World War II, two companies, Daimler and Benz, merged forming what we now know as Mercedes-Benz. The new combined company benefited from the talents of a young German engineer Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who replaced Paul Daimler as Mercedes-Benz chief engineer. This company has produced some of the most striking and enduring convertibles designed for the sheer pleasure of open-air driving of any automaker, ever.

Mercedes-Benz convertibles were originally built to combine driving pleasure and the great outdoors. An early example of this was the 1928 Mercedes Boattail Speedster, of which only one was built. Howard Isham of Santa Barbara, California commissioned the car. The coachwork for it was designed and built by the Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California. In the early part of the century, it was common for manufacturers to build the chassis and have coach builders make the bodies. Most of the coach builders were European but there were a few in the United States as well. The Boattail Speedster featured an extremely long hood, seating for two, and a small trunk in the back. This car was one of the Mercedes-Benz models that inspired the Excalibur cars of the 1970s.

In the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz produced what might forever be considered the most dramatic Cabriolets and Roadsters of all time -- the 500K and 540K. Mercedes-Benz at that time was beginning to move from multiple coach builders to only one in order to provide cohesive styling in addition to consistent quality mechanical. The coach builder they settled on was Sindelfringen Werke -- and they are still made in the same factories today. In 1934 the 500 and 540 Ks received a new 5-liter, straight 8-cylinder engine that would push the massive car from a standstill to 62 mph in 16.5 seconds. They would reach 80 mph in another 14 seconds and in top gear could reach speeds in excess of 100 mph. Any car that could reach triple-digit speeds in the 1930s was immediately legendary.

These cars had long hoods and a low profile with large S-shaped fenders running from front to rear. Most of these mammoth cars sat four, two in the front and two in a rumble seat. The 500 and 540 K Roadsters and Cabriolets had sharply angled V-shaped windshields with spotlights on either side and convex mirrors attached to the back of the lamp housings. The rear deck sloped dramatically downward. Many had skirts over the rear wheels. Inside, the cars were upholstered with hand-sewn leather and the instruments had a jewel-like look similar to today's SLK. The 540K Spezial Roadster was the first Mercedes-Benz to be finished in the now-famous metallic silver paint called fisch-silver grau. It was also the first to stow the convertible top beneath a metal lid.