Ares Design’s Tesla Model S Convertible is… interesting

Ares Design is having a busy start to 2021. Days after revealing its latest modified Land Rover Defender, the Italian coachbuilder headed-up by ex-Lotus boss Dany Bahar has unveiled THIS – a one-off Tesla Model S with just two- instead of four-doors and a folding soft-top. Blimey.

Turning a four-door saloon into a two-door convertible is not an easy undertaking. Chopping the roof off a car massively compromises the rigidity of the chassis, but Ares promises its engineers have “retained the structural integrity of the Tesla by reinforcing the chassis with additional strengthening to the side members, beneath the cockpit and rear seating area”.

It looks shorter than a normal Model S, but Ares doesn’t mention anything about taking a few inches out of the wheelbase, so that could well be a trick of the eye brought about by the longer doors. Of which now there are only two. They swing open to reveal hand-stitched white leather upholstery with orange detailing and four seats. Like much of the one-off Model S, the rear seats had to be specially designed to fit in the gap between the front seats and new roof mechanism/rear deck lid. Elsewhere, Ares has fitted new wheels and a carbon-fibre aero kit.

The company doesn’t go into any technical detail about what it’s done to the Model S, or how it performs. So we don’t know how much weight has been added as a result of all that strengthening, or what effect that’s had on the Model S’s characteristic gut-wrenching acceleration or range. Nor do we know the price – this Model S is a one-off commission, and its owner clearly doesn’t want to reveal how much money he or she has spent on the labour-intensive conversion.

What do you reckon?