will be introduced today at Peeble Beach in Monterey, CA. It will have a CLEAR top which retracts into the rear of the car.

I had a 2:00PM private showing today but am unable to make it. No photo's are allowed although I suspect someone with a photo phone my get a shot.

Maybe something will turn up later today on the internet.

 

Please keep us posted - cant wait to see this one!!
Must be SICK!!
Sux for anyone that owns a 550 barchetta though....

 

My bud who has a barchettea is on his way to pebble beach for the weekend - boy will he be surprised!

 

I am told the clear top is able to change translucence by dialing a switch.

 

Very Maybachish

 

Pics yet ?

 

nobody seems to have gotten pics, darren. after the 430 fiasco with those cameraphone snaps a month or so back, they took phones away from people at the viewing.

doody.

 

any updates?

 

boo hoo

 

no more details. the showing by invitation only at monterey was basically a mechanism to gauge potential customer interest. it was apparently simply a marketing research exercise. the car will apparently be called "Super America" and will primarily only be produced for the US market. my understanding from one dealer is that they'll basically build as many as they get orders for, which folks are guessing to be something like 100-300 cars tops.

late spring or early summer 2005 might be the start of deliveries. no data on pricing yet, but it'd guess it'll be in the $260K to $275K space.

the top has been described to me now by a few folks who saw it. i'm skeptical. it basically just has one effective pivot point and it rotates/flips such that the rear window becomes the windscreen. i don't see how you can make that gorgeous (the 550 is gorgeous as-is, so anything less would be anathema!).

i personally wish they would just do a traditional soft-top (there are a few carrozeria who will chop 550s, but it's serious hassle). c'est la vie.

there was one guy at the event taking snaps. they confiscated his phone and erased his memory card.

another guy purportedly did get snaps on his cameraphone or camera. but he apparently is unwilling to share them.

doody

 

check this out:

http://www.italiaspeed.com/2004/cars.../575_2005.html

folks who were at the event have said that this rendering is NOT entirely accurate. those two silly discs on either side were NOT on the car shown - the bodywork extends up variously to cover those areas. still no actual images though.

these guys say $325K.

though i'd be careful about taking their word as gospel...

doody.

 

Didn't Bertone do this back with a 308 'Rainbow' where the top pivoted back in the same manner-25 years or more ago??

 

Thats good for anyone who wants a V12 convert because the 550 Barchetta top is useless and the design is extremely poor, it was a matter of time for an improvement.

 

yeah but dont forget that the 550 barchetta was not designed to have the top up - "for emergency use only"...
I htink anyone who bought one got screwed cause a few months later they introduced the 575 with better handling, painted headlights, engine, etc...