OK, the following is more about open driving than about sporty cars in general...But maybe you can also refer to sporty cars in general...
If you see the SLC on the Mercedes website, there are as many photos closed as open. And the pictures where you see it open look as if the message were: open as safe and shielded as closed.
https://www.mercedes-benz.de/passengercars/mercedes-benz-cars/models/slc/slc-roadster/explore/model-year-update.module.html?ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI3fXLw8jB3wIVWOh3Ch0iHAiHEAAYASAAEgJKC_D_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3888!3!229738413499!e!!g!!mercedes%20slc
Then there's a video on the site that doesn't support the open driving category, but instead features the AMG version...with quietly set AMG sound.
From my point of view, the subliminal message means that the category of open driving is no longer used directly for central messages. If you take the intentions of the advertising messages at their word (and you can, because many focus groups with consumers and marketing decisions precede such a presentation), you can say that people are increasingly losing the desire to have fun with their (openly driven) car.
It seems to me as if the former spearhead of the automobile, its open and direct nature, at least in Mercedes communication, disappeared into a defensive.
An SLC is without a doubt still a very good car, but somehow Mercedes doesn't know what to do with it anymore.
It's no longer just the technical safety offered by brands like Mercedes when driving open, it's the problem with the overall feeling of safety. You only drive openly if you feel safe politically, socially and against crime and violence. As if you were driving through the country, as if it is loved and cared for by all people like a large garden. But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore, insecurity and retreat are the more dominating themes.
