Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XXIII

2 6 2 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I newpush into bespoke interiors for the private aviation and helicopter industry, was waiting, fuelled and primed ready for take-off. With seat trims, timber and brushed alloy accents taken straight from AMG’s car range, the helicopter set the tone for the rest of the day, landing at a chateau for lunch with a brace of the new convertibles ready to hit the road. Priced at DHS781,000, our particular car included a few extras such as naked carbon fibre wing mirrors and splitters, a matt pearl paint job and – being the AMG 63 – it had the dinner plate-sized ceramic disc brakes hiding behind 19-inch alloys. To accommodate what is claimed to be the largest fabric roof applied to a current production car, the new open-top adopts a unique windscreen with greater rake and a more substantial frame for added rollover protection. It also receives a uniquely designed rear end with extra stiffening within the rear bulkhead, rollover structures designed to deploy from behind the rear seats, a tonneau cover that opens to reveal a large storage compartment for the roof, and a longer boot lid. To get the most enjoyment, it’s best to settle in with the key on accessories only to fiddle with things like seat and mirror positions, then push the button in the centre console which lowers the roof in just over 20 seconds. Then hit the starter, push the button to open the exhaust valves for maximum aural pleasure and drink in the sound of that luscious twin-turbo, 5.5-litre V8 without the sound deadening distractions of a roof. It was a magic way to kick off the journey. Idling out of the chateau’s gravel driveway and down the narrow country lanes, its width was apparent as were the low profile tyres meeting the rough edges of the road, for those rims looked as though they could scuff easily through the provincial village streets. Once cleared of the town, the winding roads that meandered between the French Riviera and the Swiss Alps were tailor-made for this car, with its near instant throttle response and mountains of power I never needed to fully use. As with the latest S 63 Coupé, the S 63 Cabriolet develops 577bhp, giving it 129bhp more than the twin-turbocharged 4.7-litre V8 in the S 500 Cabriolet but 44bhp less than the recently upgraded twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12 found in the S 65.