Alfa Romeo's new Mi.To hatchback hasn't even seen the light of day yet and already it's spreading like wildfire across the automotive news media. Only days after initial details and images were released, already rumors are beginning to circulate of a convertible version. And why not? Alfa roadsters are eminently desirable, and since the Mi.To's styling was so directly inspired by the 8C Competizione's, why shouldn't it get a Spider version of its own?

Anticipated to hit the market in the summer of 2009 – a year after the hatchback's official unveiling – the Mi.To convertible's design and production could very well be outsourced to one of the myriad Italian design studios desperately looking for work and experienced in convertible conversions. (Several – including Bertone and Fioravanti – have already done convertible concepts based on the Grande Punto on whose platform the Mi.To is based). Alternatively, Alfa could do it all in-house, as it did with its other convertibles, potentially sharing development with Abarth. Meanwhile, Alfa could opt to squeeze in a pair of small rear seats, or alternatively pull them out as it did when converting the Brera to the Spider. If both were built, the Mi.To Spider would sit below the speculated Duetto revival in Alfa Romeo's drop-top line-up, and could very well make it Stateside to do battle with the MINI Cabrio.

[Source: Motor Authority]