Rainer271
Kraftwagen König
Mercedes E-Class Cabrio celebrates its 25th birthday
Hard as it may be to imagine now, with its extensive lineup, a quarter century ago Mercedes didn't offer any four-seat convertibles – just the solitary two-seat SL-Class roadster – and hadn't in some 20 years.
But the German automaker rectified that with the launch of the original E-Class Cabriolet, which now celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Though it wouldn't adopt the E-Class name for another two years, Mercedes launched the 124-series cabrio at the 1991 Frankfurt Motor Show, ending a two-decade gap that had seen the previous 280 SE Cabriolet end production in 1971.
The 124-series E-Class Cabriolet remained in production until 1997, by which point Mercedes had built 33,952 examples: 15,380 with four-cylinder engines and 18,572 with six – including the rare E36 AMG convertible, of which only 68 examples were made, before Daimler took controlling interest in the Affalterbach-based performance workshop in 1999.
Mercedes replaced the E-Class Cabriolet with the CLK in '97, which lasted for two generations before the model line was reabsorbed into the E-Class family in 2009 with the current model. By now the E-Class is available in four bodystyles and the Mercedes convertible lineup is bolstered by drop-top versions of the C-Class and S-Class, as well as the SLC and SL roadsters.
Don't be surprised to see more follow as the German automaker seems bent on offering the largest array of convertibles in the industry.
Source: Carscoops
Hard as it may be to imagine now, with its extensive lineup, a quarter century ago Mercedes didn't offer any four-seat convertibles – just the solitary two-seat SL-Class roadster – and hadn't in some 20 years.
But the German automaker rectified that with the launch of the original E-Class Cabriolet, which now celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Though it wouldn't adopt the E-Class name for another two years, Mercedes launched the 124-series cabrio at the 1991 Frankfurt Motor Show, ending a two-decade gap that had seen the previous 280 SE Cabriolet end production in 1971.
The 124-series E-Class Cabriolet remained in production until 1997, by which point Mercedes had built 33,952 examples: 15,380 with four-cylinder engines and 18,572 with six – including the rare E36 AMG convertible, of which only 68 examples were made, before Daimler took controlling interest in the Affalterbach-based performance workshop in 1999.
Mercedes replaced the E-Class Cabriolet with the CLK in '97, which lasted for two generations before the model line was reabsorbed into the E-Class family in 2009 with the current model. By now the E-Class is available in four bodystyles and the Mercedes convertible lineup is bolstered by drop-top versions of the C-Class and S-Class, as well as the SLC and SL roadsters.
Don't be surprised to see more follow as the German automaker seems bent on offering the largest array of convertibles in the industry.
Source: Carscoops
