An Italian design house has designed and built a bespoke Tesla Model S convertible.
Privately commissioned by an Ares Design client, the bright white Model S has undergone a dramatic transformation.
Whilst Tesla has previously sold the Roadster model with a removable roof panel, the pure electric car company does not currently have a convertible in its range.
Chopped and dropped
Making a four-door Model S into a fully functioning convertible is not the work of mere moments.
Ares Design removed the existing roof, and rear doors, turning the Model S into a new two-door design. The front doors were also lengthened, allowing easier access to the rear seats.
Chopping the roof off a car typically means reducing its structural integrity. Ares added extra strengthening beneath the cabin, around the rear seats, and to the side sills to reinforce the Tesla’s body.
Plain White T’s
The crowning glory of the Model S convertible is a folding fabric soft-top. This retracts beneath a custom-made solid tonneau cover, hiding the roof completely when lowered.
A new boot lid has been added to accommodate the folding roof. An Ares Design carbon fibre body kit has been installed, with modified bumpers and side skirts.
The interior has also been given a custom makeover. White hand-stitched leather upholstery has been used for the seats and dashboard panels, incorporating a contrasting orange trim.
‘A pure coachbuilding project’
As a commission by a private client, Ares Design has not revealed the costs involved in the topless transformation.
Such coachbuilding is unlikely to be cheap. A bespoke Tesla Model S Shooting Brake, created by Niels van Roij Design, added £80,000 ($110,000) plus taxes to the price of the base car.
Dany Bahar, former Lotus CEO and Ares Design co-founder, commented that the company’s “Co-create philosophy allows clients to work side by side with our designers and engineers to create their very own bespoke vehicle”.
Bahar also added that the convertible Model S was “a pure coachbuilding project which we very much enjoy doing and seeing the results of our uncompromising standards.”
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