2008 Ford Focus Coupé-Cabriolet

Whilst it has not yet taken on the much admired design of the new Ford Focus ST, it still boasts German design and engineering in partnership with world renowned Pininfarina in Italy.

The exterior of the Coupé-Cabriolet is all style, riding on 17-inch or optional 18-inch alloy wheels, chrome headlights and an exclusive Pininfarina badge leave no doubt that exquisite design were key in its development.

The centerpiece of the new Coupé-Cabriolet is the two piece hard-top roof, which is operated by a single button, taking just 29 seconds to open or close. Whilst a luggage blind prevents the roof from inadvertently folding on top of items stowed in the rear of the car.

Unique to the Coupé-Cabriolet is the distinctive rear end, characterised by the chrome strip embossed with the Ford logo which links together the tail lights, reinforcing the elegant Italian design by Pininfarina.

Surprisingly, despite the inclusion of a retractable hard top design, the Coupé-Cabriolet still manages to boast best-in-class luggage capacity of 534-litres with the roof up and 248-litres with the roof down. It also has rear seats that comfortably accommodate two adults with generous amounts of shoulder room.

The premium nature is continued to the interior, where the driver is greeted by heated leather trimmed sports seats and a leather wrapped steering wheel.

Premium creature comforts include fully automatic dual zone climate control, cruise control, automatic headlights, automatic wipers, heated power mirrors, glove box with cooling function and a Sony six-disc CD audio system with eight speakers.

Power is provided by a 2.0-litre Duratec four-cylinder petrol engine, which produces 107kW and 185Nm of torque. The engine has been designed to deliver torque in the low rev range, allowing for smoother take-off and overtaking, with 90 percent peak torque available from just over 2000rpm.

This engine is mated to either a five-speed manual or optional four-speed automatic transmission.

Fuel economy from the manual is just 7.5-litres per 100km, this figure is increased to 8.3-litres per 100km when the optional automatic is selected. The manual version also creates an environmentally considerate carbon emission of just 179g/km.

As a by-product of removing the roof, rigidity is lost. To ensure the integrity of the new car, greater rigidity was achieved through the development and application of new construction materials and techniques, which helped to maintain the core Ford DNA requirement of a rewarding driving experience.

The Coupé-Cabriolet includes safety features expected of a premium car such as driver and front passenger airbags, front side airbags, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) and Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) are all standard, as is Dynamic Stability Control with Traction Control and a Rollover Protection Device (RPD) for added safety.

For peace of mind when parking the car with the top down, the Focus Coupé-Cabriolet also has Ford's Passive Anti-Theft System (PATS) and a perimeter alarm with interior motion scanner for increased security.

Available from November 2007, the recommended retail price will be $45,490 for the manual and $47,490 for the automatic model.