Aftermarket firm to make 100 Tesla Model S convertibles

Tesla started making a roadster called the Tesla Roadster. It was more of a targa top sports car than a full convertible. A company called Newport Convertible Engineering has announced that it has received 100 orders to build Tesla Model S convertibles from an investor in China. Production of the Model S convertible will begin in July 2014 in three of Newport's facilities around the world.

Production of the convertibles will happen in California, Dubai, and Barcelona. Newport will build other drivers a convertible version of the Model S if they want. The company says call it to set up a time to get your own car converted in any of the three locations.

Changing your Model S to a convertible isn't inexpensive. There are two different designs for the Model S convertible. A version of the car with a soft tonneau cover will cost $29,000. A version of the car with a hard tonneau cover will sell for $49,000.

Obviously both of those prices are not counting the cost of the Model S itself, which can run into the $100,000 range on its own depending on how it is equipped. Newport says that it has requested Tesla to work with it on building another 5000 Model S convertibles to meet demand around the world. An announcement will be made on April 18. The engineering effort behind making the Model S into a convertible has taken six months according to Newport.

SOURCE: Autoblog