A PCH Weekend in the Mercedes CLE Cabriolet
Friday pickup at LAX, Malibu and Santa Barbara on Saturday, back by Sunday afternoon.
The CLE Cabriolet is the right car for the Pacific Coast Highway. Power soft-top in 20 seconds at speeds up to 37 mph, a four-seat cabin that actually fits two adults in the back for a day, AIRSCARF neck-level heating that turns a 58-degree morning into a comfortable one with the top down, and a chassis that is happy at 65 mph for two hours straight. Here is the weekend we plan when guests ask for "the convertible weekend."
Friday — pickup and Malibu
We deliver the CLE to LAX or to your Beverly Hills hotel between 4 and 7 p.m. on Friday. From LAX, take Lincoln Boulevard north to Highway 1 — you will be on PCH within fifteen minutes, and the late-afternoon light through Pacific Palisades and into Malibu is the reason you booked this car.
Friday-night dinner: Malibu Farm at the end of Malibu Pier, or Nobu Malibu if the reservation gods favored you. Park the car where you can see it from the table. Both restaurants do, both will offer to keep an eye on it.
Stay Friday night at the Malibu Beach Inn or, if you booked late, the Surfrider Hotel just inland. Both have small lots that handle a low car gracefully.
Saturday morning — Trancas to Point Dume
Top down by 9 a.m. AIRSCARF on the lowest setting if it is below 65 — you will not need it after Trancas. Drive north on PCH to Trancas Beach for breakfast at Lily's Cafe (cash works, do not test the card reader). The CLE will not draw second looks until you are out of Malibu proper, which is the right kind of weekend.
Backtrack south to Point Dume for the canonical PCH photograph: car parked nose-out at the Point Dume State Beach overlook, ocean over the rear quarter, top down, no people in frame if you arrive before 11. The road into the overlook is gentle; the parking lot is paved and forgiving.
Saturday afternoon — Neptune's Net and the climb to Santa Barbara
Late lunch at Neptune's Net at the Ventura County line — a Malibu institution that does not care what car you drove up in, which is part of why you should go. From there, PCH opens up. Through Mugu Rock, into Oxnard, briefly inland through Ventura, and then back out at Carpinteria. The CLE is in its happiest setting between 60 and 70 mph in the second-to-top gear.
Santa Barbara hits about two and a half hours after Trancas, depending on stops. Stay at the Hotel Californian downtown or the El Encanto up the hill — both have valet that handles the car without a scrape.
Saturday evening
Dinner on State Street at Loquita or, if you want the canonical Santa Barbara experience, Stella Mare's near the bird refuge. Walk the harbor afterwards. Top up at the Shell on Cabrillo before you tuck the car in for the night — you want a full tank for the drive home.
Sunday — coming back
Leave Santa Barbara before 10 a.m. The Sunday-evening southbound traffic on the 101 between Camarillo and Calabasas is a known issue; leaving early avoids it entirely. Take the 101 south, not PCH — you have already done PCH the right way once, and the 101 puts you back in Beverly Hills or Burbank for a 1 p.m. return without grinding through Malibu weekend traffic.
We will meet you at your hotel or the airport for return. Half-tank or better is the only requirement.
Things to know about the car
The CLE Cabriolet is a four-seat car. Two adults will fit in the rear seats for a meal-to-meal stint, but it is not a four-adult-all-weekend car. If you are four adults all weekend, the BMW X7 with the panoramic roof is the better booking.
The soft top operates at up to 37 mph, which means you can put it up at a stoplight or rolling out of a parking lot without stopping. Practically, this matters most when the marine layer rolls in around Trancas at 4 p.m. and you want the top up before you get on the highway.
The car is detailed and fueled at delivery. We answer the phone on the road.
