[RahulNagaraj]

Volkswagen Brazil has revealed a Virtus Cabriolet at its facility in Sao Bernardo do Campo. The Virtus convertible is a one-off project built especially for the occasion of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva's visit to the brand's facility.



The VW Virtus convertible was specially designed to transport the President around the plant's various facilities. VW Brazil is said to have built the prototype in just 6 weeks with a team of 30 professionals.



Volkswagen hasn't just chopped off the roof of the Virtus but has actually worked on the car. Due to the absence of the roof, other key areas have been strengthened, suspension components have been upgraded, and the doors have been slightly realigned and are now pillarless. The car has been painted in Biscay Blue and rides on 18-inch wheels. Inside, the car has an all-black interior.



Being a Brazilian-spec VW Virtus, the convertible prototype is powered by a 1.4-litre TSI, which is not available on the Virtus offered in India.

Source: NoticiasAutomotivas

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[vigneshkumar31]

Looks neat. I have always wondered why convertibles were not offered, even as an option in mass market sedans. Maybe a short in the arm for sedan sales?

[handsofsteel]

Originally Posted by vigneshkumar31

Looks neat. I have always wondered why convertibles were not offered, even as an option in mass market sedans. Maybe a short in the arm for sedan sales?

IMHO, highly impractical and unsafe in India. However, I would still buy one at least once in my life

[Newtown]

A larger front door and deleting the rear doors would make this a brilliant looking convertible.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by vigneshkumar31

Looks neat. I have always wondered why convertibles were not offered, even as an option in mass market sedans.

I believe the convertible accounts for <10% of the Thar's sales. And that's in a pureplay enthusiast machine. No market for convertibles due to the heat + dust + theft in India. I pop open my convertible about once or twice a month. It's worth it, but not for everyone.

[Maverick1977]

Originally Posted by GTO

No market for convertibles due to the heat + dust + theft in India.

Adding to tht list - a genuine risk of someone spitting on you, exhaust from trucks directly releasing their gases, beggars, sales man/woman/kids and lastly the risk of being labelled as "Chapri", "showoff", "bade baap ki aaulad" and similar epithets.

Our extreme weather is also not conducive for open top diving in most cities.

[shankar.balan]

I rented this VW T Roc convertible with Manual Transmission in Germany for a few days last year. The electrically operated convertible top is absolute bliss. It can be opened and closed only when the vehicle is at a standstill or when the vehicle is moving very slowly upto ~20-30kmph.
This particular T Roc spec is only sold in Europe. The few T Rocs sold in India were AT and Hardtop. Convertibles work nicely in places like the EU and US/ CAN, ANZ etc which are clean and where people value the few months of sunny weather.
I love convertibles. But however desirable they are, they are also kind of impractical for our regular and harsher operating conditions. Here, they are more suited to being a well-off enthusiasts-toy than a daily driver utilitarian ‘only’ vehicle.

[Lifeographer84]

She's a beauty...ain't she? Just like the A3 convertible...albeit this one has two extra doors at the back. Apart from that there's striking resemblance between the two, almost like a spiritual successor sort of thing.

It's a shame convertibles never caught up in our part of the land, just like station wagons, pick up trucks and so on. More than the theft, is how you're keep the cabrio's soft top clean in our dusty environment? Your friendly neighborhood washing guy won't do his magic on it that's for sure!

And the 1.4 TSi, well there was a time when I wanted to plonk this in my Polo GT and convert her into the Blue GT that was sold in the UK.