Mercedes S-Class Cabrio revealed in first OFFICIAL photo

The latest version of the Mercedes S-Class – the S-Class Cabriolet – has been revealed in the first official photo ahead of its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The Mercedes S-Class range has grown a bit like Topsy in recent years as Mercedes attempts to make the S-Class all things to all Merchant Bankers.

We’ve already got the S-Class Saloon and Coupe as well as the monster S-Class versions to pick up where Maybach left off, and now we’re about to get the first Cabrio version of the S-Class, the first time since 1971 Mercedes has produced an open-top version of its range-topping model.

The first photo of the new Mercedes S-Class Cabriolet has been officially revealed by Mercedes ahead of the Cabrio’s debut at Frankfurt next month, and it shows a car that looks remarkably elegant (at least from this angle) and is much as you’d expect – a Coupe with the roof off.

What replaces the roof is a fully automatic, multi-layer folding roof with a big glass window, and likely to be the biggest fabric roof in serial production, that will sit invisibly beneath the extended boot deck when it’s down, but should give all the benefits of the coupe when up.

Under the bonnet will be the 4.6 litre 449bhp V8 in the regular S-Class Cabrio, with the S63 Cabrio getting the 5.5 litre twin-turbo V8 with 577bhp. There will also be an S65 Cabrio with the V12 to follow at some point, as well as the promise of at least one 4MATIC version.

The Mercedes S-Class Cabrio is aimed at cars like the Bentley Continental GT Convertible, and prices are likely to span the £100-200k range – from entry-level Cabrio to S65 Cabrio with all the bells.

We’ll know more when the S-Class Cabrio debuts at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month.