Ferrari 488 Spider Unveiled With Folding Metal Roof

In previous eras, taking the top off a sports car was a signal that it had been neutered to some degree. But in the modern era, where you can buy open-air McLarens and Corvette Z06s, feeling the wind in your hair (or what’s left of it) doesn’t require a compromise in performance. For additional proof, here’s the Ferrari 488 Spider, the more dramatic version of the already potent 661-hp Ferrari 488 GTB.

Because you can’t just chop the roof off a 203-mph car, or store much of anything in a shape maximized for speed, Ferrari engineers had to find some ingenious solutions for making the 488 GTB go roofless. Their final choice: a power folding hard top that retracts to nestle on top of the engine compartment. That move allowed Ferrari to keep the added weight of the folding roof to a minimum — about 55 lbs. — and therefore not affect performance or mess with aerodynamics much; it will still hit 62 mph in three seconds flat.

The car was also designed to maintain the exact rigidity it enjoyed as a closed coupe with the roof off, a trick that required 11 different aluminum alloys and a few pieces of more unusual metals, like magnesium. Ferrari says the Spider’s rear glass window can be raised or lowered to different settings independent of whether the roof is in place; if its raining, but you still want to puncture your eardrum with Italian engine noise, the car will happily oblige.

We’ll get our first live glimpse of the 488 Spider this September in Frankfurt, and hopefully an opportunity to see the roof in action before snow starts falling — although much like the U.S. Postal Service, neither rain nor slow nor sleet should stop someone from enjoying a car like this.