The End Of Convertible Hair: Mercedes Unveils Perpetual Doldrums Rag Top

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

It’s good to see an occasional glimpse of the good old Mercedes, solving the great unsolved automotive engineering challenges through sheer triumph of the will. Yes, today’s convertibles are already dramatically calmer than the ’65 Fury that tried to give me a head start on dread locks. But good enough is not good enough at Mercedes. For over a decade, their engineers have been toiling on the challenge of the truly turbulent-free convertible. Their efforts have paid off in the form of the new 2011 E-Class convertible, due this May in the US. All the (un) hair-raising details and more pics of Aircap in action follow:

The new Mercedes E-Class cabriolet features an innovative retractable wind deflector that sits at the top of the windshield. Called Aircap, the driver-operated system raises a wind deflector on the tip of the windshield to direct wind 8 inches (20cm) higher, over the top of the passenger compartment. It works in tandem with the rear deflector to eliminate buffeting and reduce noise with the roof down. And Aircap is the perfect accessory to Airscarf, MB’s heat-blowing head rests. What’s next: Air Shirt? Topless motoring in the chill of a crisp German spring day is only another Mercedes invention away.

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • JohnSmithFL JohnSmithFL on Apr 01, 2017

    The AirCap is quite efficient in warding off wind turbulence and noise in Merc roadsters, which is a must-have in modest not-so-premium Verts. But ordinary convertibles still have the option of good wind deflectors like the Windblox wind restrictor and so on to rein in these bogeys.

    • AndyWill76 AndyWill76 on May 07, 2017

      Yeah, Windblox windblocker is a good wind deflector. I too have mounted it on my ride. Now my hairdo is in form and I don’t have that beat-up feeling after a long top down drive.

  • JaneWill JaneWill on Jul 17, 2017

    The wind deflectors take open top motoring to the next level by providing noise- and turbulence-free ride even at motorway speeds. Thanks to the Backblade windblocker now my hairdo stays in form and I need not yell for conversing with my co-passenger.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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