A convertible is a car body style with a folding or retracting roof. The collapsible roof section is typically made from flexible canvas or vinyl, although plastic, aluminium and steel have occasionally been used in elaborate folding designs.
On the U.S. market, a standard Ferrari 458 Spider is priced at $257,000. So, why is this version priced at $459,900? The answer is simple: because it is the only Verde-Kers-Lucido 458 Spider in the U.S. and one of two in the world built up to this point.
What’s so special about this paint? To be honest with you nothing much, it is just the same green paint job applied to the Hy-Kers 599 hybrid test car unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.
This particular model has only 967 miles on its ticker and comes with lots of carbon-fiber insertions on the interior. The model sits on 20-inch forged dark-painted rims wrapped in Michelin tires and features Scuderia Ferrari shields. Other standard equipment includes: a front wing in carbon fiber, rear molding also in carbon fiber and diamond stitching in Nero.
Click past the jump to read more about the standard Ferrari 458 Spider.
A standard Maserati GranCabrio MC gets its power from a 4.7-liter V-8 engine that delivers a total of 460 horsepower. Those are pretty good numbers for a sports convertible, but not the best a Maserati can do.
Luckily for us, there are tuners that came into the picture and tuned the car to its real capacities.
Novitec did just that for the GranCabrio MC. The tuner installed a new supercharger with a water-cooled intercooler and a pair of heat exchangers, which allowed it to boost pressure by 0.43 bar (6.23 psi).
Along with the new supercharger, Novitec also offers an updated intake manifold with larger injectors and it remapped the ECU. The result is a total output of 646 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque.
With the extra power, the GranCabrio MC will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds - down from the standard 4.9 seconds - and will go up to top speed of 189 mph. The sprint from 0 to 124 mph drops to 11.4 seconds.
Click past the jump to read more about the Maserati GranCabrio MC by Novitec.
Last year, a Caterham SP/300.R became the fastest car at the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power with a lap time of 61.89 seconds. The Caterham did all it could to defend its title this year, but a Radical SR8 RX turned out to be the fastest car this year.
With professional racecar driver, Robbie Kerr, behind the wheel, the British-built Radical completed a lap of the 1.2-mile circuit in just 55.29 second, smashing the previous record by 6.6 seconds. The SP/300.R was the second fastest car with a lap time of 56.53 seconds. The Radical didn’t end its supremacy there, as it also hit the fastest speed on the track: 129 mph.
The SR8 RX was entered in the "Racing Saloons & Track Day Cars" class, which helped it break the record, due to the track-focused nature of the cars competing in that class. The competition saw a total entry of 139 cars and bikes.
Click past the jump to read more about the Radical SR8 RX.
Back in May, Mazda announced plans to break another world record with the largest parade of Mazda cars. Well, it’s now official, as Mazda entered the Guinness Book of World Records on June 15th with a total of 693 MX-5s joining the parade.
There were a total of 1,450 participants who contributed to the record attempt, shattering the existing record for the "largest parade of Mazda cars," which put together a total of 459 MX-5s back in 2010.
The parade was led by a third-generation racing model driven by Dutch TV presenter, Allard Kalff, and President and CEO of Mazda Motor Europe, Jeff Guyton, beside him. The official certificate was offered by Guinness World Records adjudicator, Pravin Patel.
The entire event took place at the RDW Test Centre at Lelystad and featured demonstrations by the Ribank Mazda MaX5 Cup racers and the three-rotor-engine-powered Mazda3. Participants at the event had the opportunity to test Mazda’s new i-ACTIVSENSE and the new Mazda SKYACTIV models.
At the end of the day, participants were offered a reward for the most beautiful and authentic MX-5. This award went to Pieter Staat from Meteren (NL).
Click past the jump to read more about the Mazda MX-5.
Fiat offered the 500 by Gucci Edition back in 2011, and now, due to high demand, Fiat decided to bring it back for a limited time. This special edition will be offered for both the 500 and 500C models and will be put on sale this June. Prices will start from $23,750 for the 500 version and from $27,750 for the 500C version.
The new 500 by Gucci can be ordered in either Gucci Nero or Gucci Bianco exterior paints combined with a new Nero monotone interior trim and a signature Gucci Verde/Rosso/Verde (green/red/green) web stripe running along the entire side body. The instrument panel and the seats are wrapped in Ooltrona Frau leather with signature "Guccissima" print, while the door panels and the hand-stitched, leather-wrapped steering wheel get Premium Nero accents.
The 500 and 500C Gucci are offered with retro-inspired 15-inch aluminum wheels and will be further distinguished by numerous "Gucci" badges.
Click past the jump to read more about the Fiat 500 and 500C.
Admittedly, when we first saw this, our first thought was this was something MINI would do. But when we found out it came from Toyota, we weren’t surprised either.
Toyota knows when it’s time to think out of the box and it recently did so by presenting a colorful sports concept called the Camatte57s. The out-of-the-box part comes into focus because the Japanese automaker isn’t brining the car to an auto show.
It’s bringing it to a toy show, specifically the 2013 Tokyo Toy Show.
Essentially, the Camatte57s takes its name from the Japanese word for "care" with the “57” symbolizing the number of body panels it comes with. If you’re getting the hints by now, this concept is actually a kit car that’s simple enough to be assembled from the ground up.
The uniqueness doesn’t stop there, either. The car’s configuration is such that it has an open-top body with a 1+2 seating configuration. The seats, as well as the pedals, have all been configured in such a way that even kids can drive it. And as far as powertrain is concerned, Toyota says that it runs on electricity.
The whole point of the concept, according to Toyota, is to present the notion that people should feel more in touch with each other and with their vehicles.
Certainly, building a kit car like this - it measures 3,000 mm (118.1 inches) long, 1,440 mm (56.7 inches) wide, 1000 mm (39.4 inches) high and has a 1,800 mm (70.9-inch) wheelbase - will go a long way in fostering that driver-car relationship from an early age.
A few weeks ago, Eibach updated the current 911 Carrera 4S with a new set of Pro-Kit Performance Springs. Today, Now it’s time for another great sports car to catch the tuner’s attention: the BMW Z4. Thanks to its long bonnet and the sporty seating position, the Z4 needs no presentation updates, but Eibach decided to optimize the convertible’s performance figures with new tailor-made suspension components.
Eibach has just unveiled a new Pro-kit Performance Springs kit that lowers the Z4’s center of gravity, thus improving its cornering behavior. There is also a set of B12 Pro-Kit Performance Springs and Shocks that add even more sportiness to the Z4.
As a final component the tuner is offering a Pro-Spacer Wheel Spacer made from high-tensile-strength aluminum that will transform the Z4 into an even more athletic sports roadster. These new wheel spacers also weigh significantly less than steel wheel spacers and give the Z4 a stouter stance.
Click past the jump to read more about the BMW Z4.
Everyone is expecting now that we have seen the V12 Vantage S that a Volante version will be launched in the next couple of months. While no official details are offered on this new model just yet, piecing together how it will look isn’t very difficult. All you have to do is take a V12 Vantage S, remove the fixed roof and add a soft top.
Everything else will be carried over from the coupe version, except, of course, that the Volante version will be a little bit heavier because of the changes required by the soft top.
Under the hood, the car will keep the same AM28 6.0-liter V-12 engine that delivers a total of 565 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque. The Volante version will go from 0 to 60 mph in a little over 4 seconds, while top speed will drop a little bit from the coupe’s 205 mph.
Click past the jump to read more about the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Volante.
Back when Audi was planning the RS5, they promised us a convertible model. Now that the RS5 is alive, well, and leading the British cops on its fastest chase ever, we are anxiously awaiting the RS5 Cabriolet. While there is some time to wait, Audi is at least gracing us with all of the RS5 Cabriolet’s ins and outs.
As you can expect, the Cabriolet takes most of its queues from the hardtop model, but is does have its own little styling differences – besides the rag top, of course. With fierce competition coming from BMW and Mercedes, how well can this newcomer in the performance convertible realm really do? We’re going to into all of the specifications and features that Audi has graced us with and give you a full review of what to expect from this new model.
UPDATE 06/05/2013: Audi unveiled a new video showing the RS5 Cabriolet in action through the impressive landscape of Mallorca. Enjoy!
Click past the jump to read the full review and see how it stacks up to the competition.
The resurrection of Detroit Electric came as quite a surprise when it announced its intentions to reenter the market in March. What came as even more of a surprise was the quickness in which it announced its first car – the 2014 SP:01 – and the fact that it had planned to release its first model in August 2013. The latter was a little ambitious, per a report, as it appears that the release has been delayed for about a month.
According to The Detroit News, Detroit Electric has been holed up in an already-occupied facility in Plymouth Township and has been working on finalizing a deal for a Wayne County manufacturing facility. However, some Is and Ts remain undotted and uncrossed in the contract, which will push production to sometime in September instead of the originally announced August start date.
According to the report, Detroit Electric expects the new facility to be capable of putting out 2,500 units per year, but it only plans to sell 999 SP:01 units in total. So, this potential facility should be home to at least one other future model.
Click past the jump to read more about the Detroit Electric SP:01
