Gallardo style roof cover - you wont be able to see the engine bay CGT/Aperta style speedster humps Roof splits into 2 when it folds (like the cali). When the hood is up it looks exactly like the coupe 20kg heavier than coupe Unveiled in Sept to journalists
Hard. And, how much do you want to bet the clear cover will become an option now ($$$$). McLaren has a clear cover and you can't see anything but bits of plastic covering everwhere. Chevy has a plastic cover and all you can see is a piece of die cast aluminum. Let's wait and see all the details...
The car was shown this week and it is a hard top. It's stunning to look at, we all knew it would be. I just gave the main points in my previous post. I think coupe sales will be affected dearly as it will be a defunct model to most buyers.
Didn't happen with the other models when the spiders were introduced. In fact, the F430 had the spider available at the same time and coupe sales were still strong. I doubt this will effect values either as the spiders cost more and weigh more. A lot of people who live in areas where convertibles are not desireable will still want the cheaper/faster version. I do believe a lot of cars made next year will be spiders. The reason is that they haven't made a new one in 2 years. There's a lot of pent up demand. There are coupe people and there are spider people. Often, they rarely agree. The spider will not defunct the coupe. It just gives people another choice.
Well if they make mainly spiders for the next 2 years, there will still be plenty of lo-mile coupes available. In this way dealers will be able to have greater volume of cars to sell. Want a buy a spider, then sell us your coupe first and we will sell 2 cars rather than 1.
In Singapore, the spyder is more popular and commands a better resale value and is also easier to sell. Personally, i usually prefer a spyder. It's nice to feel the fresh air in the mornings and evenings.
Interesting thoughts. Not sure if I agree. If as some have posted that the Spyder will perform at an equivalent level to the Coupe (or even close) and it will look "very similar" i.e. it keeps the 458's lines, coupe fans (like myself) may be persuaded. With the soft top there was a distinct difference between the cars visually. With the hard top Spyder the choice may not be so definitive. Coupe fans may be easily persuaded. Either way its exciting times!!
Like I said earlier, the devil's in the details. We don't know how much more it costs and we don't know what it looks like. Those of us in the sun belt states may be salivating but there's a lot of 360 and F430 coupe owners who never miss the top being removeable.
As of a while ago from another forum, this is what it said, am not sure if he's a member here as well but he stated this: "They were just shown privately to the dealers, not the public. A nero/tan & a red/tan 458 spider were shown. There will be no see through engine cover btw and the top is 10000000% a retractable hardtop." then another "Don't feel so bad as my source who saw the car said it's drop dead sexy!" same forum but different contributor: "Folding hardtop. Unveiling this fall, production start right after new year holidays. First EU deliveries end of Q1, UK deliveries start of Q3, not sure about US, but probably in between. Just like the coupe - launch fall 2009, first EU deliveries from Q1 2010 and so on. Expect also some tech improvements to make the 458 stay ahead of competition. Was said that the final product is going to be amazingly stunning. "
Absolutely. I'm coupe all the way, but... If they can retain the coupe lines with a hard top (I hate the way most rags look when up, how they destroy the lines of a car) and get it to within a whisker of coupe performance (and drop tops get closer with every new model), then why not.
The coupe will be discontinued a short time after spider production starts and the 458 will only be available in spider form. The coupe form will then only be sold as the 'Scud' version when that is released.
