Remember the 2007 Mercedes-Benz Ocean Drive Concept? It was a lightly-veiled look at the S-Class refresh for the following year, but there were serious rumblings that Mercedes loved the buyer response.

So much that they started suggesting a four-door cabrio S-Class might be possible in the future.

But those clever executives. They knew the S-Class Coupe would be replacing the bulbous CL-Class as the top of the Mercedes-Benz luxury line — so their hints about Ocean Drive now make much more sense.

Why not a four-seat cabrio?

Two words: rigidity and safety.

A four-door drop-top is almost never produced because the underlying chassis would be too compromised. Every door, hatch and even moonroof decreases the twisting strength of a car’s platform. Without a carbon-fiber base and floorplan, there is little way to stiffen any coupe or sedan enough to have four doors with the top down.

Or, there is, but not without adding huge steel I-beams in the floor, which is not luxurious.

The flip-side of the rigidity equation is crash strength and overall occupant safety.

So, even though we all know Ocean Drive is two blocks long and barely above 5-mph … the Ocean Drive four-door cabrio is still a long shot.

In addition, the 2007 Ocean Drive concept in its casket-bronze paintjob is seriously geriatric. It seems very old and very queen-y at the same time – something like Elton John. This is not a fit for the new S-Class Coupe’s hip design.

So the S63 AMG and S550 Coupe will almost certainly meet the buyer needs here: a large back seat and a ragtop roof on a gigantic Mercedes-Benz limo.

Enjoy these renderings of a possible future S-Class Cabrio, plus a look back at the Ocean Drive Concept from 2007.

 

2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet

 2015 S63 AMG Coupe

 2016 S63 AMG Convertible

2015 S550 Coupe

2016 S550 Convertible

 

2007 Mercedes-Benz Ocean Drive Concept

Future Car Rendering – 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet Ready for A1A and Ocean Drive