2011 Renault Wind is One Cool Convertible

For a company that brought out such automotive junk as the stupidly named “Le Car,” it is always surprising to see Renault put their engineering prowess to good use and turn out something like this: the 2011 Wind. Although probably not destined for our shores (although Fiat and Alfa Romeo’s upcoming North American launches could give Renault something to think about), the Wind’s roof is the real party trick that we may see influencing more than a few North American designs.

Borrowing a page from the old Ferrari 575 SuperAmerica’s book, the Wind’s removable roof is a simple, 90-degree, flip-up hard top that rotates to vertical and slides behind the seats, occupying far less space than the convoluted and complex multi-piece folding hardtop systems from other manufacturers. Allowing the diminutive convertible to retain the majority of its storage space, the Wind should curry favour with those that find the Mini convertible’s trunk simply too small to live with.