Audi A1 Cabriolet is out in the open

It’s mid-summer, and Audi is celebrating in style with this: the new A1 Cabriolet.

The German supermini first broke cover last October as the Metroproject Quattro – a concept designed to showcase both the A1 and Audi’s clever electric-hybrid powertrain.

Auto Express revealed sketches of the model in Issue 981, and ever since then, the baby Audi has been casting a shadow over the car that’s set to be its main rival: the MINI.

Audi has never been one to hold back its engineers when it comes to new challenges, and it sees the premium supermini class dominated by the baby BMW as a lucrative market.

So, with an eye on the biggest possible slice of the cake, the A1 will aim to steal sales from the popular Mini Convertible. Our exclusive pictures reveal exactly how the drop-top will look when it debuts at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2009, before hitting dealers the following year.

The roof mechanism is more sophisticated than that of the MINI. It’s a powered hood which folds down electrically and is swallowed into the boot, rather than sitting on top of the car behind the rear bulkhead.Read All