How do Ferrari do it? Just when you thought they’ve lost the plot and given up making cars that I want to have as a poster on my wall, they come up with this. The convertible version of the already ridiculously good looking 458 Italia. Prepare to bite your knuckles.

The 458 Spyder does represent a world first (car manufacturers love world firsts more than anything I can think of other than money) in that it features the first hard-top mechanical folding roof in a rear engined sports car. Seriously. Think about the engineering challenge there: create a tin-top folding roof that stows away on top the engine. That couldn’t have been easy. Who says Italians only do aesthetics properly.

Apparently the all-aluminium roof is 25kg lighter than a comparitively-sized soft top convertible roof, which I find quite remarkable. Aluminium is very soft though when used as sheet-metal, I highly suggest not leaning on the thing when you’re trying to show off. You playboy, you.

The 458 Spyder is powered by the same 4.5litre naturally aspirated V8 as its solid-roof cousin, which means it sounds like Zeus having an argument and accelerates like a frightened meerkat. 0-100km/h is achieved in less than 3.4 seconds and top speed is quoted as “greater than” 320km/h.

But none of this really matters when you look at the thing. It is quite possibly the most beautiful motorvehicle I’ve laid eyes on.

Ciro De Siena – OverdriveTV