Mercedes AMG GT C Roadster

We Say: The Mighty GT Gets a Cabrio Version in Two Shades of Alarming...

- Jason Barlown

Even if it isn’t playing on the audio system, point the new AMG GT roadster down a sun-splashed Phoenix freeway and ‘Life’s Been Good’ is the sort of chrome-plated rock anthem that’s perma-rotating round your brain. If you have one of these, life isn’t merely good, it’s absolutely ruddy marvellous. Mercedes has waited until the GT v1.5 to unveil the convertible version, complete with dramatic new Panamericana-inspired 15-louvre grille, active air management and, on the GT C, active rear-wheel steering and electronically locking rear diff. In the right spec – Magno grey with the red soft-top, for example – this is a car that stalks the boulevards with magnificently executed menace.

It’s an important point: how good the GT roadster is in objective terms is secondary to the sheer visual impact it makes. Still, with the promise of around 650km across some of Arizona’s finest blacktop, we naturally gravitate towards the GT C, the 557bhp iteration that sits above the GT S coupe and nuzzles close to the loony GT R in the family hierarchy and degree of weaponisation, despite having no roof and an ostensibly less racy remit. The cheaper vanilla GT roadster, with just 476bhp, is the one for the plastic surgeons and successful self-made estate agents, right? Hmm, we’ll see about that.

We also need to keep in mind what kind of playing field the GT roadster finds itself on. A highly competitive one. If you’re scoping out this sort of territory you’ve probably got that default other car as your daily user: the Range Rover. Still, let’s assume everyday usability matters.