Roadster
Hennessey Venom F5: the World’s Fastest & Most Powerful Roadster
With just 30 examples slated to be produced, and a cost of over $3,000,000 USD, only the few will be able to find out what it’s like to go over 300 mph with the top down.
Tesla Roadster Gets 400-Mile Range Upgrade
On Christmas day, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to announce a little gift to fans of the company’s Lotus-based all-electric sports car: a substantial boost in the Roadster’s driving range. Taking lessons learned while fine-tuning the Model S sedan, Tesla has now applied that development experience to the diminutive two seater, which Musk asserts will now “enable non-stop travel from LA to SF”.
Los Angeles 2014: VW Golf R 400 and GTI Roadster Concepts Bring the Heat
VW is bringing a pair of concepts to the Los Angeles Auto Show that both started life as fairly standard Golfs, but while one is more or less steeped in reality, the other was born and bred in the virtual world long before any consideration was made to actually building a physical example of it.
Ferrari Brings Exclusive Limited-Quantity Roadster to the US with the F60 America
Honoring the 60th anniversary of Ferrari’s North American presence, the Italian automaker has decided to celebrate the occasion by producing a very limited quantity of new open top V12 powered, front engine supercars which will be known as the F60 America. Clad in an appropriately patriotic red, white and blue color scheme, the F60 America will pay homage to another great tradition: Just ten examples are scheduled to be built, as was the case with the 1967 275 GTS4 NART Spider, which car importer Luigi Chinetti specifically requested from Enzo Ferrari for his US clients.
Mazda To Attempt World Record With MX-5
Next month, Mazda hopes to break its own Guinness World Record for “largest parade of Mazda cars” with a gathering of MX-5s in Lelystad, Holland. The event, called IMAX-5 2013, hopes to bring together close to 800 examples of the popular roadster at RDW Test Centrum for a drive through the Dutch countryside.
Video: Lotus Exige S Roadster Coming This Summer
Lotus has published this fairly simple video to announce that it will be releasing a topless version of the Exige S in the summer of 2013. According to Lotus, the Exige S Roadster is in its final phases of testing, meaning it will be available in time for customers to enjoy some open-air motoring in some great weather.
Car And Driver Tests 2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster
Wonder what it’s like to go 200 miles per hour with the top down? You can do it in the 2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster. No, we haven’t had a crack at it yet, but the fellas over at Car And Driver were lucky enough to get behind the wheel, and kind enough to share the experience with readers.
Quick Drive: 2012 BMW Z4 sDrive28i
At just under 3300 pounds, the Z4 doesn’t seem like a lightweight car, but for the purposes of the luxury roadster segment, it actually fares quite well on that front.
Driven: 1974 Triumph TR6
The open-top TR6 was fairly blissful to pilot over a 20-minute jaunt. Sure, the fact that your author’s head protruded over the delicate windscreen frame by a good three inches wasn’t ideal (though his hair looked really rockabilly upon return), but the summary feeling of our driving impressions is an overwhelmingly positive one.
First Look: 2012 Mini Roadster
The ink is still drying on our first drive of the Mini Coupe, and already the Anglo-German brand is dropping another model on us. Called the Mini Roadster, it is essentially a convertible version of the Coupe, sporting a similar two-seat, three-box design.
Driven: 2012 BMW Z4 sDrive28i
BMW, the self-proclaimed maker of “The Ultimate Driving Machine,” has set some tough standards for their new 2.0-liter engine. That’s good because, frankly, a four-banger replacing one of the most revered sixes in history needs some credibility-building. We have our own standards, so we set off down the Pacific Coast Highway, one of our favorite winding roads, to see what this new engine could do.
First Look: 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster
There isn’t much not to like about the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. In fact, we think the only way of improving the gull-winged supercar is by chopping the roof off, which is exactly what Mercedes has done for 2012.
Spy Shots: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster Shows Its Top
Looks like the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster is undergoing further winter testing before its debut in Frankfurt, as these spy photos show. This time it has less camouflage, and we can see the actual canvas top of the vehicle.
Spy Shots: Roding Roadster Looks Odd, Goes Fast
Not every fast car can also be classically pretty.
Driven: 2010 Mazda MX-5 PRHT
The Mazda MX-5 (it isn’t a Miata anymore) has grown up. What started as a simple revival of the classic British roadster has blossomed into a usable, everyday car. Our tester is the Grand Touring trim with the optional Power Retractable Hard Top (PRHT). Not exactly traditional MX-5, but we won’t complain about the all-weather ability of the tin top, or the heated leather seats (it may be July, but those seats would really extend convertible season).
Driven: 2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is
Yes, it has a stupid name, but we understand the problem. “Z4” just doesn’t tell us enough information anymore, not with the complex and wonderful thing that is the 2011 BMW model line at hand, anyway. So we’re stuck with having to refer to this particular roadster as the Z4 sDrive35is, or at least as the Z4 35is, because that last little “s” makes a pretty big difference.
Spy Shots: Don’t Worry, The 2011 Aston Martin V8 Roadster Only Changes a Little
One of the nicest looking cars is getting a small makeover. These spy photos show the 2011 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster looking a little more like the V12 Vantage.
Quick Drive: 2010 Nissan 370Z Roadster Touring Sport
Every time I finished a driving session in our test 370Z Roadster I had the thought “this is really a fun car to drive”. With the exception of the base coupe, I’ve driven all the variants of this new generation of the Z, and the Roadster now climbs to the top rung of the ladder alongside the Nismo version.
First Look: 2011 Audi TT and TTS
The current generation of the Audi TT has been on the market since 2007, which means it is just about due for an update, and the crew from Ingolstadt has done just that for the 2011 model year.
Keepers: Mazda Miata MX-5—Community
There’s good news and bad news for Miata enthusiasts looking for club based camaraderie with which to share their roadster excitement. Despite being one of the most popular two-seat sports cars in the world, there is no single American Miata organization. This wasn’t always the case—the Miata Club of America served as a traditional owners club from 1989 through 2000, and when that organization went out of business, Mazda created the manufacturer-backed Miata Owners Club in 2001. That venture only lasted a year and a half, leaving Miata gearheads to rely on local clubs for their fix of automotive bliss.
Keepers: Mazda Miata MX-5
If we could choose only one car to represent the epitome of Winding Road’s philosophy, well, it wouldn’t be the Miata. But you can bet your driving gloves and designer sunglasses that the little Mazda would be in the top five, maybe even in the top three. Few cars in the past 20 years have captured the essence of basic, undiluted driving enjoyment as well as the Miata, and it should come as no surprise that this outstanding little machine isn’t just a Keeper, but an icon among motoring purists around the world.
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