Look: Somebody Just Cut The Roof Off Of A Kia Stinger
The Kia Stinger, as cool as it looks, is a sedan. That means it is generally not considered a likely candidate for convertible bliss. Being a four-door, there is only a handful that has ever been wrought as convertibles. Factory convertibles, that is. And Kia isn’t considering making one. But that doesn’t stop Kia dealers from cutting the roof off of a Stinger. That’s what we have here.
The convertible Stinger does look good, don’t you think?
A Kia dealer in Orlando, Florida, just unveiled this slick-looking Stinger convertible. City Kia sent a 2020 Stinger GT2 sedan to Drop Top Customs. They’re the company that creates the Dodge Challenger R/R Scat Pack convertible conversions. And surprisingly, the convertible Stinger does look good, don’t you think?
Besides chopping its top off other modifications were performed. Of course, there’s the requisite reinforcement to the unibody structure. Once you cut the top off of a unibody car it turns to Jello. Then Eibach springs were added, along with an anti-roll bar. Then the Stinger was shod with 20-inch Axe forged alloy wheels. Finally, a Strictly Business body kit with a carbon fiber hood and panels was added.
If you squint you hardly see this was once a four-door Stinger sedan
If you squint you hardly see that this was once a four-door sedan body converted into a ‘vert. The raked windshield and wedge body takes on a whole different presentation without a top. And Florida is just the place for top-down cruising.
Under the carbon fiber hood rests the Stinger GT2 3.3-liter, twin-turbo Lambda II V6 engine. Enhancing the V6’s breathing are Velossa Tech ram-air intakes with AEM filters and Mishimoto intercooler. The spent gasses run through Ultimate Performance downpipes and mid-pipes, with a custom cat-back exhaust aft of the rear end. Finally, RaceChip has massaged Stinger’s ECU for quicker throttle response.
The obvious question is, “Will this become a limited edition deal, or not?” Right now Kia City says yes, while a project spokesperson says not so fast. No production schedule has been set up. But you know what they say, “The first one costs the most. Everything after that is just production.”
Once you have the prototype it opens the door for more
Once you have the prototype figured out it opens the door for more to be made. All of the figurings, finessing, and fitment is behind you so that one can set their sights on making more. Whether that will happen is unclear at the moment. City Kia did tell The Drive that it is testing this car to work out any bugs. We would expect that regardless of whether there is production-intent or not.
Because production decisions are still a ways off if ever, no word has been revealed about the cost. A base 2021 Stinger will start at $33,000, so these could be fairly affordable limited-edition convertibles. We’d like to see some more-maybe without the carbon fiber stuff?
