The possibility of the Ferrari 458 Italia Spider sporting a folding hardtop roof has already become a topic of widespread and serious debate. Ferrari boss Lucas di Montezemolo though has confirmed the existence of the 458 Italia Spider but has never spent any word on whether the Spider would sport a folding hardtop, which is further reason for the debate to continue unabated.
The first racing car with the Prancing Horse up front to have a folding hard top was the Ferrari California. The F430 Spider was later outfitted with a soft top so as to save weight with its high performance variant the Scuderia 16M too being meted out the same treatment later on. While this also allowed for the engine to be visible at all times top up or down position, the addition of the hard top to the 458 Italia would certainly rob the car of this feature.
The hard top feature however adds to security as well as comfort that’s lacking with a soft top. A hardtop also adds a touch of solidity to the lines of the car when it is up, something that’s never to be taken lightly for a marquee as image conscious as Ferrari. This would also add credibility to the spy images of the hard top F430 Spider that had been flashed way back in the 2008. Previous versions were more focused towards weight and space saving techniques which the soft top offered while now it has been performance oriented designs that holds sway. The hardtop all in all goes well on the California and Ferrari has the options open for switching over to the soft top version for the Scuderia model of the 458 Italia Spider.
Ferrari expects to roll out a drop-top companion to the new 458 Italia, along with successors to the 612 Scaglietti and the 599 Fiorano, over the next six years.
