Car of the Year Awards 2026: Convertible of the Year

You're lying on the beach, gently glistening with suntan lotion. The sun’s doing some of its best work in ages, and your mind is empty of everything aside from the glorious hovering sensation of perfect relaxation. Then, all of a sudden, a strong breeze kicks up. Your hair blows in your eyes, your cooling drink is upset and the sheen on your skin becomes a sand magnet. Wind ruins everything. Unless you’re in a Mercedes CLE Cabriolet, that is.

People speak of ‘wind in the hair’ motoring as if it’s a good thing, but you really have to be in the mood for it. In the convertible relative of the Mercedes E-Class, you can capture the sun without being caught in a gale, thanks to the brand’s Aircap system, which turns draught exclusion into an art form. It comprises a pair of wind deflectors that rise from the top of the windscreen and just behind the rear seats, and together they create a bubble of calm while the wind rushes past – even at motorway speeds. No other car leaves you more unruffled when the roof is down, and the CLE does a lot more to please sunseekers, too.

Appropriately, its suspension concerns itself with comfort more than sportiness; while a keen driver will certainly crack a smile on their favourite country road, the CLE isn’t quite as poised and incisive through corners as its BMW 4 Series Convertible rival. However, the pay-off for this is a more comfortable ride. Even on its standard, non-adaptive suspension, the CLE sponges up all but the most egregious bumps in a thoroughly agreeable fashion. No one wants to sunbathe during an earthquake, after all.

But nor do you want to be late to the beach, and every CLE has a good turn of speed; even the entrylevel CLE 200 – our recommended version – can reach 62mph from a standstill in less than eight seconds. This urgency comes courtesy of a 201bhp 2.0-litre engine with mild hybrid electrical assistance to help with swift getaways. The couple following you in their 4 Series Convertible will just have to make do with the second-best bathing spot.

Note the word ‘couple’; deploying its removable wind deflector renders the 4 Series’ rear seats completely out of bounds, and – even sans deflector – they’re less spacious than those in the CLE. By contrast, the CLE can carry four adults from bungalow to beach, although really tall folk will hope it’s a short journey if the roof needs to be raised; head room is a little tight for six-footers.

Erecting or lowering the roof, incidentally, takes about 20 seconds. And if the traffic lights go green halfway through the operation, it’ll keep working until you reach 37mph. As a final illustration as to how seriously Mercedes takes convertibles, the crisp, colourful infotainment screen electrically tilts to avoid glare from the sun. Because even when you’re soaking up rays, you don’t want to give up your creature comforts.

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