Mercedes show off Ocean Drive concept car

21 December 2006 17:06 GMT / By Jonathan Goddard

Merc has weighed in at the pre-North American Auto Show Detroit concept title rumble with a large luxury convertible that looks suspiciously as though it might eventually see the light of day (translation: it’s dull).

The Ocean Drive four-door drop-top is currently, though, a one-off creation that had no design brief or production specifications,

leaving designers free to get on with the job of not being awe inspiring.

Amusingly, what they have hewn from Germany’s finest space age automotive materials is something that looks, with the top down, like a stretched version of the all-new BMW 3 Series convertible.

Sure, the Ocean Drive looks a whole lot more aristocratic than that, with its upright radiator grille, tasteful two-tone paintwork and heavy use of 3D-effect interior materials and maple trim.

It’s not particularly inspiring; it’s dull, even. Mercedes laments the apparent loss of the large luxury convertible over the years. But, as Jeremy Clarkson states, there’s only one person who ever looked good in a large German luxury drop-top…