American Express is standing by

Our time behind the wheel showed us that the Ocean Drive delivers the kind of performance you'd expect from a car like this.

The convertible top gracefully raises and lowers itself in less than 20 seconds, a real achievement for such a gigantic expanse of fabric. The 510-horsepower turbocharged V12 proves so silent that at least one bystander thought there must have been an electric motor under the hood instead. And the Italian-made interior furnishings were both luxurious and attractive, if a little unlikely in a car with German bodywork.

We even watched a short video of the Ocean Drive's gestation from concept to construction (including a skinless test mule on a test track) on the rear-seat DVD screens.

It's all here for the making and the taking. The Ocean Drive has the look, the drive, the elegance and the exclusivity. Perhaps the most valuable asset the Ocean Drive has is its ability to gather and maintain the interest of everyone who sees it. To us, it was entertainingly obvious from the blaring horns of passers-by, the innumerable waves of approval and the spontaneous queries about the possibility of purchase.

Mercedes-Benz has a sure thing on its hands, especially in this neighborhood.

So don't tease us any longer. Build the Ocean Drive, call it a 2009 Mercedes-Benz S600 Cabriolet, and they will come, and we'll bet they'll be holding one of American Express's black, ultra-exclusive Centurion cards.

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Yet another outlet reporting on the recent press event here in the U.S. for the Ocean Drive Concept. The more I look at it, hmmmm....... I'm getting the feeling that Mercedes has to build this. It would make a splash twice or maybe even three times that of the S-Class. It would be everything a high-end Mercedes is supposed to be and more. Expensive, exclusive and unlike any other car on the market. We have already seen what the CLS has started. So yeah I'm hoping on the band wagon now, build it. Tone it down, make it structurally rigid and it will take the MB name to heights not seen in over 30 years.

M

I wonder how the car is to drive. I'm pretty sure it will start wobbling if you gave it to Walter for him to drive it on a mountain road.

The car looks beautiful in those photo's, it also look more modern. Entirely different perspective.

Yeah they said the Airmatic failed during shipping. So they used fixed spacers which of course gave it the low-rider body motions.



It really does photograph well when bathed in sunlight.

M

Not a huge fan but I think the interior has some potential to look better than the one in S-Class. I don't know why I remembered that this car had a hard-top.

This concept is very interesting I remember being told on this website that the Maybach brand was revived because DCX did not want to create a car above the S class, if that is correct then this should be badged a Maybach too ..if there is any future for the Maybach brand. After all, this vehicle poses exactly the same dilemma for the S class as the Maybach did.