beauty that is Mercedes' E500 Cabriolet

Minutes after Danny the horse and I posed for this picture, the men from Mercedes came and collected their lovely new motor and I got in my own car to head to London for an important meeting. It wouldn't start.

So I cadged a lift to the station, where at this precise moment I'm sitting on a bench at the end of the platform like some lunatic trainspotter, with my shoes covered in horse dung, my hair coated in diesel dust and my brand new Tom Ford suit streaked with pigeon poop from the canopy overhead that's supposed to stop things dripping on you. I've written this column from some grim places, but this takes the mick.

The Mercedes E500 Cabriolet is more impressive with the roof up - mainly because it's so quiet that you forget you're in a convertible

Still, as all the trains are delayed, it's as good a time as any to crack on. So, why the horse? Well, originally, a cabriolet - from the French cabrioler, meaning to caper (thanks, Google) - was a light, two-wheeled carriage that could be pulled fast by a single horse, making it the best way of getting around a large town. 'Cab', as in taxi, is an abbreviation of the word. So 200 years ago, Danny here would have been pulling the cabriolet.

I don't think he could pull this one, though, big boy though he is. You can probably tell I'm keeping my distance. I don't do horses. Horsepower, yes - horses, no. I like them, but I don't think they like me. If you had the chance to lounge around in a field all day, eating grass with all the lady horses, I don't think you'd be much impressed by some 14-stone Yorkshireman trying to hitch a ride on your back. I went on a horse once when I was younger, and within ten seconds I was on my back looking at the clouds with my spine lodged in my throat. It was three days before my lungs worked properly. Nope, it's definitely not for me.

Mercedes SLS Black Series Rendering

Mercedes SLS Black

A few days ago, we found that Mercedes would be adding a newer, hotter Mercedes SLS Black Series model to its lineup. This model is set to be launched in 2013 and will only be available in limited production. The new SLS will feature the same 6.2-liter V8 engine, but revised to deliver up to 600 hp and 500lb ft of torque.

Of course, it has a 50% boost in sales price so we can only assume 90% of these delectable beauties will end up in Dubai somewhere!

2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabrio

It's a beautiful spring across the country, and everywhere people are heading out for long weekend drives to enjoy their favorite stretches of blacktop the way they were meant to be--in roadsters and convertibles. But what do you do with your drop-top when those 100-plus-degree days hit, or worse still, once the sun has retreated to the inevitable onslaught of winter? Pack it in the garage and start dreaming about next spring? Not if you're a 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabrio owner.

Disclaimer: Mercedes-Benz flew us out to the fantastic Blackberry Farm in eastern Tennessee and gave us some pretty sweet digs, access to a personal golf cart, and stuffed us to the gills with fine wine and food. Despite their best attempts to seduce us into a romantic stupor, however, we remained faithful to our mission of delivering accurate and insightful drive reports.

2010 Mercedes E63 AMG Price and Specification

2010 Mercedes E63 AMG

2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG sedan has been released along with the first batch of official photos. The E63 AMG now makes 518bhp (386kW) and 465lb ft (630Nm) of maximum torque compared to the current car's 507bhp (378kW) and the same amount of torque. Mercedes-Benz is sticking AMG's 6.3-litre naturally aspirated V8 on this one. Performance should be similar to that of the outgoing E63 with figures of 4.5 seconds for the 0 - 62mph sprint and a top speed of 155mph (249km/h).

Despite the minimal increase in power the car is said to quaff 12 percent less fuel resulting in an average consumption of 22.4mpg. One of the components credited for this is the Speedshift MCT 7-speed gearbox found in the SL63 AMG. It has four driving modes namely Controlled Efficiency, Sport, Sport Plus and Manual.

The standard car comes wearing 18-inch AMG alloys with size 255/40 front and 285/35 rear tyres. There is an optional 19-inch rim available. In terms of exterior cosmetics the big AMG gets LED daytime running lights, a more aggressive front spoiler, a rear diffuser and four tailpipes as per current AMG standard issue.

Mercedes-Benz S 400 Hybrid

A handout picture released by German car corporation Daimler shows dancers performing in front of a Mercedes-Benz S 400 Hybrid during a Daimler event ahead of the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing on April 22, 2010. China's booming auto market is increasingly important for the German auto maker and it is the number one market in the world for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. AFP

BRABUS VANISH Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series

On the inside, the SL65 AMG has red stitching and Brabus logos. The bonnet has also been replaced to cater to bigger turbos.

2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS computer illustration

Just two weeks ago, we showed you spy shots of a CLS test mule with heavy camo. The test team did a great job with hiding any kind of details on what will become the look of the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS; that of course didn’t stop the artist of the above computer illustration to speculate what it will look like. Let’s hope the actual design is simlar to the rendering because it looks fantastic. Head over to our friends at GlobalMotors.net to see additional images of the 2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS.