After the late-2010 debut of the 2011 Fiat 500, the Italian automaker plans to bring us the Fiat 500C Convertible in 2011 and the Fiat 500 Abarth in 2012. The 500 Abarth has a turbocharged version of Fiat's Multiair 1.4-liter inline-4 rated at 135 horsepower and 152 pound-feet of torque.
Also today, Chrysler-Fiat announced that Chryslers sold internationally will share product and dealerships with the Lancia brand. We don't see that helping either brand, unless C-F miraculously figures out a way to resurrect the Delta Integrale and move it in mass volumes.
And by the way, we've been told that by 2014, 56 percent of all Chryslers sold will be Italian in origin.
Reporting by Dan Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Convertibles,Fiat,Hatchbacks
More than a few of us on the Inside Line staff have a jones for a built first-gen Miata. We keep thinking about making one a project car/used long-termer, sort of like we did with the Ferrari 308, the E46 M3 and the Evo GSR all rolled into one. Only the Miata is dirt cheap. If you do much of the work yourself and live without a few luxuries, total cost to build one into a little Japanese Cobra could be well under $10,000 (including the car with hardtop).
The gang at Mike Burlas Design Inc. (www.mikeburlas.com) out of Rialto, CA understand what I'm talking about. They built this clean and simple wide body Miata I came across today at the SEMA show. It's powered by a turbo rotary engine, wears a fastback-style carbon roof and it sits just like it should. That, my friends, is stance. Mike, just lose the big rear wing and the car is right on.
And so now my Miata jones is like really off the chart. Thanks, Mike.
So what do you think? Should we do it?
Continue reading Turbo Rotary Mazda Miata Attacks SEMA.
Categories: Classic Cars,Convertibles,Mazda,SEMA Show,Sports Cars,Trends,Tuners and Modifications
Photo Illustration by Nick Wilcox
Since rumors are already flying about the possibility of a Toyota FT-86 convertible, we thought we would give you an idea what such a vehicle might look like. Not bad eh?
Supposedly a Toyota official told someone at a Dutch website that the company would build such a vehicle "if there was sufficient demand." Well, given that the FT-86 was the unofficial star of the 2009 Tokyo auto show, we're guessing that an FT-86 convertible would create more than enough demand to justify its existence.
An FT-86 convertible would also do something that an FT-86 coupe probably would not -- that is, lure non-enthusiast buyers who simply want a stylish two-door that gets decent mileage. Makes for a much better business case, and the way Toyota's fortunes are going it could use a few hits.
Autotelegraaf via Autoblog
Categories: Convertibles,Coupes,Future Vehicles,Sports Cars,Tokyo Motor Show,Toyota
We've been told on various occasions that there will be no M version of the latest Z4. Something about poor economic conditions or something like that. But that hasn't completely stopped development on a hotter Z4.
This prototype was spotted lurking around the Nurburgring recently and it shows signs of a few mild tweaks that indicate BMW is working on some kind of enhanced sport package for the hard top convertible.
A deeper front air dam, reshaped rear fascia and a more aggressive set of wheels and tires are the most visible modifications. Whether there will be any upgrades under the hood is debatable. Seems like it would be easy to turn up the boost on the twin turbo six, but that would also make for a far more complicated project, exactly the kind of capital intensive project BMW was trying to avoid.
Categories: BMW,Convertibles,Future Vehicles,Spy Photos
In the midst of hotly contested pony-car contest, Ford will litter the Las Vegas Convention Center with modified 2010 Mustangs for the SEMA show, which starts November 3.
Ford donated these Mustangs to various tuning shops, parts makers or favored associates to create something tasty (with some guidance from Ford officials, of course). The company will also have at least a couple of surprises it created independently, but the company isn't ready to talk about those yet.
So meanwhile, peruse this collection of Mustangs starting with the car above. It's called the Mustang RTR-C, but we prefer to call it The Black Death. This carbon fiber-bodied 'Stang is the work of champion drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr. and is alleged to be an "extremely limited production" model. Beyond the carbon panels all that we know about The Black Death is that it carries a 550-hp motor. That should do the trick.
Make the jump to see many, many more Mustangs.
Continue reading A Whole Mess Of Mustangs at the 2009 SEMA Show.
Categories: Convertibles,Coupes,Ford,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications
This might seem like sacrilege, but yes, there will be a convertible version of the upcoming McLaren MP4-12C.
The company is serious about becoming a real car company and in order to do that you have to actually sell a bunch of cars. Doing so is easier if you have more than one model, or in this case, more than one version of your one model.
Designed to keep all the basic design elements of the coupe, including its 200-plus-mph top speed, the MP4-12C convertible will use a retractable hardtop and retain the coupe's scissor-style doors. The 600-horsepower, twin-turbo V8 will remain as well although the convertible is expected to arrive with a price premium over the $250,000 coupe.
First Look: 2011 McLaren MP4-12C
Categories: Convertibles,Future Vehicles,Luxury Cars,McLaren,Sports Cars
Expect to see more Chevrolet Camaros at SEMA this year than grudge night at your local drag strip. With the official Chevrolet version still more than a year off, aftermarket companies are filling the demand now with conversions of the their own.
Drop Top Customs built this Camaro convertible for SEMA and it looks like one of the better conversions. Even with the top up there's no sign of cut corners. Which there shouldn't be of course especially when you consider that this conversion will cost you $18,000.
More info and pics: Drop Top Customs Camaro Convertible
Categories: Chevrolet,Classic Cars,Convertibles,SEMA Show
This might be the best manufacturer promotional video we've seen all year. It was obviously shot last winter around the time Mini launched the new Cooper convertible in the southern Austrian Alps. Veteran racers Paddy Hopkirk and Rauno Aaltonen each won Monte Carlo in a Mini Cooper S back in the 1960s, and here they're retracing their old route in a John Cooper Works convertible.
But they're not just out for a boring cruise -- they're pushing the car a bit, comparing it to the old Mini rally car, using the handbrake to get the JCW convertible turned in. Interspersed in all this is 1960s' footage of them doing the same with the old Minis. This video is really well edited.
Categories: Classic Cars,Convertibles,MINI,Motorsports
A convertible version of the Ferrari 458 Italia is assured, and in an interview with Ferrari Chief Executive Amadeo Felisa, the editors at CAR learned that the 458 Italia Spider will show up in "early 2011." So we'd presume a debut at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, or perhaps Geneva in 2011.
CAR
Categories: Convertibles,Ferrari,Sports Cars
You can always count on TMZ to be where it probably shouldn't be, but these clips show a side of the Volvo C70 you may not have seen before. This C70 isn't cruising around with its retractable hard top folded down. It's being pushed around a bit and Tom Cruise is at the wheel, apparently doing his own tire squealing and handbrake turns.
Categories: Celebrities,Convertibles,Volvo
Is it ever OK to dance on a Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster?
Categories: Convertibles,Lamborghini
Mazda has a long tradition of bringing concept-ized versions of its Miata to auto shows. Mostly these are merely eye candy and don't have much influence on production Miatas.This Frankfurt show's entry in the category is the MX-5 Superlight, a sort-of speedster version of the basic car that looks damn cool. The German design team that conceived the Superlight have taken the MX-5 back to its lighter-weight, smaller-displacement roots. In place of the 167-hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder the U.S.-spec MX-5 carries, the Superlight carries a lightweight 1.8-liter four with 125 horsepower.
But the team also slashed the MX-5's overall weight to 2,194 pounds, making it 250-300 pounds lighter than a production unit. That's an impressive trimming, although this being a concept car only, part of that was achieved by losing the windshield and convertible top. The silver-and-white color combo paired with the saddle brown leather interior trim is particularly tasty.
For a look at all the Miata/MX-5 auto-show specials, check out a Mazda blog post we did from an earlier Chicago auto show.
Categories: Concept Vehicles,Convertibles,Frankfurt Auto Show,Mazda
We were going to title this post "2009 Frankfurt Auto Show: Maserati GranCabrio and the Lady in the Flouncy Nightie." But that wouldn't fit in the headline.
Now we're all for a woman getting her job done. But come on, can we see the car a little bit? It's a nice-looking thing, this GranCabrio, a soft-top version of the four-seat GranTurismo. The long-wheelbase four-seater brings a level of grace to the segment that seems to have gone missing. Even the Mercedes-Benz SL, once a paragon of restrained elegance, has gone all hard-edged.
This little number hits U.S. dealers just in time for the top-down season beginning next spring. But let's not take this restraint thing too far. The car will be powered by a 433-hp 4.7-liter V8.
Maybe Ms. Flouncy Nightie would like to get in the car. Just an idea.
Categories: Convertibles,Frankfurt Auto Show,Maserati
Porsche hasn't built a limited-edition Speedster since 1994, and that one was based on the 964 generation of the 911. However, our spy photographers happened to be hanging around the Nurburgring Nordschleife when Porsche engineers hit the 'Ring for a single, rain-soaked lap in a prototype for what appears to be a Speedster variant of the mid-engine Boxster.
The camouflaged rear deck on this lastest prototype is hiding signs of the Speedster's classic double-humps behind the headrests. Yet, this prototype's windshield seems to have lost the delicacy of the windscreen frame on either the '94 Speedster or the wide-body '89 Speedster. 
More design tweaks could be in store as this Boxster-based Speedster gets closer to production, though -- provided today's crash standards aren't too much to overcome.
And we really do hope Porsche can swing this one. The Boxster is already a wonderful driver's car. But take some weight and complexity out of it, and you'd possibly have a legitimate modern-day reincarnation of the 550 Spyder.
There's a second photo of Porsche's Speedster prototype after the jump.
First Drive: 2009 Porsche Boxster
Continue reading Spy Photos: Porsche Speedster on the Nurburgring.
Categories: Convertibles,Porsche,Sports Cars,Spy Photos
Last night, the Volkswagen Group threw a huge party in Frankfurt. In this video, we bring you the official unveilings of the Audi R8 Spyder, Lamborghini Reventon Roadster and Volkswagen e Up!. You'll see the over-the-top Bugattis and Bentleys, too.
Full unveil list for the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show
Categories: Audi,Bentley,Bugatti,Concept Vehicles,Convertibles,Frankfurt Auto Show,Lamborghini,Volkswagen
