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Buckle up. We’re zooming around town with the roof down in the new Mercedes-Benz C 300 Cabriolet.

- Sarmad Kadiri

SO YOU’VE ARRIVED IN LIFE. You like doing things with certain flair. Then you are in the right lane if you are behind the wheels of the new Mercedes-Benz C 300 Cabriolet. Only a handful of cars can make an impression like this convertible, for the price, that is.

What could be better than driving around in a luxury convertible on a sunny winter afternoon, the roof dropped down, sunlight reflecting off the Gucci shades and your well-conditioned locks blowing in the wind (Well, I didn’t have to worry about my locks here, though).

And if you don’t like the Medusa hair-do, then you’ll be thrilled to know that the C 300 Cabriolet comes with an AIRCAP feature that uses a wind louvre on the windscreen in combination with draught-stop positioned behind the rear-seat head restraints to deflect wind away from the cabin.

As the pictures suggest, the C 300 Cabriolet beautifully transforms the classy four-door C-Class design into a cabriolet form. The biggest giveaway, as you might have guessed, are just two doors instead of four and the fabric roof, or the lack of one when it’s tucked away. The whole tucking away bit takes not more than 20 seconds and can be done even while driving at speeds less than 50 km/h.

The convertible gets a single slat grille instead of the conventional C’s dual-slats and the chrome highlights are missing on the large air intakes. The elegant profile meets a thick boot, which accommodates the folded fabric roof. The new LED tail-lights highlight the bold shoulders and are clearly inspired by the S 500 Cabriolet.

Purely for the sake of aesthetics, we would have preferred larger alloy wheels than the existing 17-inch ones and, maybe, throw in lower-profile tyres. With four body colours and four fabric roof shades to choose from,the cabriolet looks elegant and youthful with just a dash of flashiness.