Wednesday 5th August 2015

Mercedes W124 Cabriolet: Guilty Pleasures

It's impossible to do this one without summoning the ghost of Frankie Howerd...

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Titter ye not, but the motor industry has long loved to talk about how rigid it can make things. Pretty much no new car gets introduced without its manufacturer boasting about how much stiffer it is than it's predecessor.

Stolid yet handsome, it's an old-school Benz

And torsional rigidity is undoubtedly a good thing. Having a strong structure reduces the influence of unwanted factors the suspension can't control, it makes a car feel tighter and more accurate, safer and sturdier. It's something that even the least attentive drivers will immediately spot the lack of, feeling how much softer and wobblier the structure of most cabriolets are within a few yards of poor quality road surface. So what hope was there in the 1980s and 90s, when even cars with roofs often had the resistance to twisting forces of damp cardboard boxes?

Soft Rock
I know, I'm getting my excuses in early. Because although I'd love to be able to say that the W124 Mercedes E-Class cabriolet* that I lust after was an exception to this rule of inflexibility, I can't. If anything, it's practically the exemplar, a car that - to get the knob gags out of the way - is positively flaccid in its lack of rigidity. One that behaves like a bouncy castle if asked to digest a rough road at anything other than a very gentle pace. In short, the exact opposite of the sort of taut, solid open-topped sportscar that should sit higher on my list.

Yet, having owned every other W124 body variant at one time or another, my desire for a cabrio is almost overwhelming. Just look at its profile: did Merc's design mastermind Bruno Sacco ever sign-off on a finer looking car? You can practically see the lack of structural strength in the long, low shape - especially as the folded roof is entirely stowed beneath the rear deck, unlike most of its pram-like contemporaries that left theirs on display. Like its Coupe sister the cabrio sits on a shorter wheelbase than saloon or estate, but there's still a huge amount of space behind the door, with the front and rear linked by nothing more than sills, floorpan and some modest under-body reinforcement.

Fun in the sun for four real sized people

But this was clearly deliberate. The W124 comes from the era when creating even moderately sturdy open-topped cars meant either limiting them to two seats or using some horrible looking T-bar roof. Somebody at Merc clearly knew all of this, and decided to do the opposite anyway.

Erectile Dysfunction
Drive one and the lack of rigidity becomes a strange part of the W124 cabrio's appeal; a flaw that you quickly learn to adapt to and - as far as you can - to drive around. Even a steel-roofed E-Class from the period isn't the most precise driving tool, and the cabriolet's trembling harmonics makes it one of those cars best sampled at the sort of pace normally reserved for piloting nervous grandmothers to doctor's appointments. Fortunately this is something that both the 320 six-cylinder and 220 four-cylinder variants are happiest when asked to deliver, especially with the supremely slushy autobox that almost all cabrios have. Besides the cabin is so nice, the reflections in shop windows so appealing that you really don't mind trundling at sub-Proton pace.

Proof that proper style never really dates

It's a very sociable way to mooch about, too. There are plenty of two-occupant roadsters from the same period: Merc's own R107 and R129 SLs good examples. But there were very few four-seaters; the Audi Cabriolet was a two-plus-two at best, the BMW E30 cabrio tiny by comparison. And let's just pretend that the Vauxhall Astra and Ford Escort cabrios didn't exist.

Clearly I'm not alone in my love for this unlikely icon, a truth borne out by the way values have steadily as those of the far sturdier Coupe have slid. Even leggy four-cylinder cabrios are starting around the £10,000 mark these days, and if you've got a decent low mileage E320 Sportline in a decent colour you can pretty much name your price. The fact supply seems to have dried up in recent years suggests its also one of those car that is being hoarded. I should have bought one when I had the chance; I'd have a leathery suntan and a very broad grin.

*For the Merc pedants we know the cabrio is an A124, not a W124 but we've stuck with the generally accepted terminology for the purposes of this story - Ed.

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Like what you see? Photos from a car advertised in the classifieds...

[Turbobanana]

Lovely cars, and don't worry about scuttle / body shake - they all do that, sir.

15 years into Saab 900 Convertible ownership and I've never considered it to be a problem. Would I track day it? No, of course not - that's not what it was built for, but as an everyday driving tool the benefits far outweigh the deficiencies.

[Turbobanana]

Strawman said:

Turbobanana said:

Lovely cars, and don't worry about scuttle / body shake - they all do that, sir.

15 years into Saab 900 Convertible ownership

A notable omission from the list of four seat convertibles available in the UK, by the time the NG 900 was launched scuttle shake was drastically reduced.

...as was character, reliability and handling finesse, sadly. Apologies if you own one, but they weren't a patch on the old ones.

Mercedes seem to have mastered the art of the big, wafty 4-seat convertible though, mind you they started quite early in the 20th Century.

[Turbobanana]

Strawman said:

Turbobanana said:

...as was character, reliability and handling finesse, sadly. Apologies if you own one, but they weren't a patch on the old ones.

Anyway I just wanted to comment that of 4 seat convertibles available back then SAAB is the most noticeable omission, in the UK they must have sold nearly as many convertibles as hard tops at one point.

UK was the best market apart from North America, apparently. Weird, given our "challenging" weather