Autoblog

Mini is readying its R56-based replacement for the current Cooper droptop, and it will retain its cloth roof. While there's been widespread adoption of retractable hardtops, the Coop is staying soft. That's good for weight and center of gravity, so the 'vert will still handle charmingly. True to the Cooper's retro mission, Senior VP of Brand Management, Kay Segler contends that the cloth roof offers an experience more true to classic alfresco motoring. The reasoning is that traditional convertible tops open wider than hardtops, so the skyward vistas are less impeded in the Cooper, which is why they pledge to never luxe up their car with metal origami. It could also be that there's no place to put the larger roof stack of a folding hardtop.

[Source: Inside Line]

One enthusiast from the Netherlands described the E93 thusly: "Super vette bak!" We're pretty sure that translates to "super fat barge," though the overly-literal "super oily bake" has its own charm. If you're into cabrios, maybe mutating the phrase to "super phat barge" is more palatable. Our friend from NL was referring to the 200-plus extra pounds the M3 cabrio will be hauling around versus its sedan counterparts. The folding-roof M3 doesn't officially debut until the Geneva Auto Salon in March, but a German magazine jumped the gun and posted images on their website. Embargo apparently broken, the pictures continue to propagate about the internet.

The biggest news with the pending debut of the convertible M3 is the gearbox. The new seven-speed dual-clutch replacement for the SMG transmission, dubbed M-DKG, is reported to debut with the M3 cab and will be available across all bodystyles of the M3 simultaneously. Wheel-mounted paddles will let you blip your heart out, and the new cog swapper will likely outrun cabrios fitted with traditional manuals, reportedly making the sprint in about 5.3 seconds.

[Source: M3Post via Motor Authority]

Automotive News has been pumping out a ton of information about the General's future products, and between buffing fingerprints off the crystal ball and making phone calls to unnamed sources, they've shed some light on the future of Pontiac.

According to AN, we can expect to get a hard-top version of the Solstice sometime in 2008 as a 2009 model, complete with a revised powerplant that will boost output, although there was no mention of changes to the GXP. Pontiac will stick with the in-line four for the time being, as a V6 variant is officially off the table, and by 2011 it's assumed that new sheetmetal will adorn the Pontiac and possibly its Saturn-badged brother.

The remake of GM's performance brand will also include the demise of the Torrent, while the G5 will be replaced with the RWD Alpha platform by 2010 – unless CAFE standards put those plans on hold.

Naturally, the big non-news is the upcoming G8, with V8 power and rear-wheel drive, which is expected to be the flagship of the brand. Base models will come equipped with a 261 HP 3.6-liter V6, while the GT model will boast a six-liter V8 producing 362 HP. The bad news: don't expect to see a GTO or Firebird in the near future, as GM contends that the market isn't ripe for offering too many high-po gas-guzzlers. Disappointing, to say the least, but if the Camaro explodes, we'd expect both vehicles to see the light of day.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Although we've heard the rumors before, and it still seems like a no-brainer, Lexus has remained mum on the introduction of an IS coupe. With its assault on everything held dear to the Bimmer and Merc people, it's simply a matter of time before Lexus takes aim at the 3-series and C-classes that have remained largely unchallenged in the sports coupe market.

The most recent news rumor comes via Nihon Car, who procured the above scan from the Japanese mag Car-Top. Granted, the photochopped image above is simply wishful thinking (that rear window looks a bit awkward), but a hardtop convertible version of the IS would be right at home in Lexus dealerships and in the garages of BMW and Mercedes refugees. But until we start seeing spy shots, we'll be taking that grain of salt, thank you very much.

[Source: Nihon Car and Bike]

Hardtop convertibles – called coupé-cabrios across the pond – are commonplace enough these days that seeing one out on the road, as nifty as they are, isn't such a novelty anymore. Long before the first-generation Mercedes-Benz SLK, before the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 Spyder, but significantly after the Ford Skyline Fairlane, a German garage by the name of Treser chopped the roof off the rally-bred Audi Quattro coupe and fitted a fully automatic retractable hard-top. Only 39 were made, of which only one was reportedly made in right-hand drive (apparently for a British customer), and that vehicle is on sale now on eBay.

In addition to the trick roof, which disappears in 20 seconds below a hard boot-lid at the touch of a button on the b-pillar, Treser also tinkered with the engine, coaxing 250 horsepower out of the turbocharged inline-five.

The seller claims the car cost £41,144.25 new, but as of when this here article was written, the bidding was at £7,645.01. For all the juicy details, check out the auction by clicking here.

[Source: German Car Scene via Carscoop]

Our reader Mike, tipped us off to an article in the Times of Malta that discusses the development of a hard top folding system for the Ford Mustang. The setup, developed by Peter Muscat, a Detroit ex-pat, folds into what looks like two pieces and resides in the space normally reserved for its cloth counterpart. The powered roof will come down in 30 seconds, although an upgrade will cut off another seven seconds, and won't utilize any space in the trunk, since, according to the article, "golf-mad Americans" wouldn't stand for it.

Five prototypes, ready for prime time, are currently being run through their paces and Mr. Muscat's company plans to build 500 systems over the next six years. According to Muscat, he already has orders for over 100 units.

Whether or not such a system would be utilized as an OEM part remains to be seen, although we doubt the aftermarket manufacturer would take issue with selling the system to FoMoCo for use in the redesigned Mustang, likely to be built in 2009.

UPDATE: We touched base with Ford, which confirmed that it is not involved with, nor does it have details on this particular project. The automaker added that it's always investigating new features and special editions to help feed the Mustang enthusiast desire for more and to maintain its pony car segment leadership.

[Source: Times of Malta via MuscularMustangs.com]

Looking less like a Buick than the Quattroporte, Pininfarina's sketches of the new Maserati Coupe show an aggressive two-door with significant "coke bottle" cues and it should make quite an impression when it debuts at the Geneva motor show in March. Maserati has previously used the services of Italdesign, so the change to Pininfarina could mean a shift in future Maserati stylings. The coupe bears a resemblance to those that came before, but the stance is more muscular, with a level of tumblehome not likely to see production. The coupe will sire three different models; a 2+2, a Spyder, and a hardtop convertible.

Motivation will still come from the Ferrari parts bin, so there will be no need for a radio, especially in the Spyder. Put that top down and listen to the V8 -- all the music you'll ever need. Also making an appearance will be the Cambiocorsa cog-swapper, as well as a possible six-speed ZF auto. Size, of course, grows, and while the car in these sketches looks great, we'll have to reserve any kind of final judgement until the real thing shows up. Our guess is that some of the extreme muscularity is dialed back, but what we'd really like to see is one of these high-end coupes that doesn't look like the competition. Again, judgement will have to wait until the actual car rolls into the sun, but if you hadn't seen the trident in the grille, it'd be easy to mistake this for an Aston, Jaguar, even a Ferrari. We're holding out for a pleasant surprise, but are prepared for disappointment. Rest assured that the craftsmanship will be top notch in the old-world style, no matter the styling.

[Source: Quattroruote via MotorAuthority]

UDPATE: Like you, we're having a hard time wading through the conjecture on what this car is exactly. We mistakenly told you below that the Z9 would be a CL-Class fighter, which is wrong – it will be an SL-fighter (damned Mercedes nomenclature!). However, the test mule still doesn't look large enough to compete with the SL-Class (maybe the SLK, which is why we still think it's a Z4).

Reports are flooding in from Munich of a never-before-seen test mule from BMW that's purported to be the Z9, the successor to the short-lived Z8 premium ragtop the automaker sold from 2000 to 2003. Now, to be fair, the mule could simply be the next generation Z4 convertible, but the photographers from KGP seem to believe the body shape is purposefully misleading and that it is, indeed, the Z9.

Such a car would go head-to-head in the marketplace with the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, and thus likely be offered in both coupe and hardtop converitble models. BMW's choice of engine for the Z9 seems obvious, as nothing less than the corporate V10 producing 500 hp would do for such a premium vehicle. In fact, Winding Road is surmising that the Z9 will carry an even more premium price than the Z8's $128,000 base MSRP, perhaps somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000.

Despite the fact that speculators seem convinced this mule is the future Z9, we still think it looks too small for that to be the case. From the side profile it appears the vehicle is just about the right size for a slightly larger Z4 and not comparable to the size of a Mercedes-Benz CL-Class.

[Source: Winding Road]

Many of you remember shots of this hardtop Pontiac Solstice that features a hatchback-type rear end. The hardtop is a product developed by EDAG that's been in development for some time, but word is out that the EDAG Sportwagon hardtop, as it's now officially called, will be available in January of 2007 for $2,499 plus taxes and shipping. Saturn Sky owners (and Opel GT owners, for that matter) will have to wait until Spring if they want to close the lid on their convertibles.

The Sportwagon hardtop weighs about 115 lbs., although you'll be removing the production lid at the same time, which means you'll drop 42 lbs. for a net gain of 73 lbs. More weight can be saved by permanently removing the soft top, as well. However, that requires a professional and who wants to permantly remove their convertible's soft top anyway?

EDAG makes a big point in its press release about the OEM quality of all the materials used to construct the Sportwagon hardtop. We actually got to see a preproduction prototype at last year's NAIAS and were impressed with the cap's fit and finish, and the fact that it does give Solstice owners more enclosed storage space. We'll leave the look of EDAG's hardtop up to you. In our eyes the production side windows make the top look a little awkward where it meets the windshield at the top of the A-pillar.

Thank for the tip, Josh!

[Source: The GMSource]

Opinion seems to be split concerning the design of the Chrysler Sebring Covnertible, images of which we posted a couple nights ago. Those of you who have commented on the Sebring's chopped top either love it or hate it. That's an actual improvement over its four-door sedan counterpart, which so far has been almost universally panned on the web for its design.

Convertibles are generally more stylish than sedans, and the Sebring Convertible is no different. We'll admit our icy reaction to the sedan has thawed a bit thanks to the better looking drop top. Chrysler has posted this video on YouTube that allows us to see the three-piece hard top opening and closing, the actual depth of the trunk, and a walkaround of the car and it's interior that better shows off the vehicle's proportions.

[Source: YouTube via DaimlerChrysler}