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Open-top models have long since been weaker than hard-top derivatives, often taking a knock to their power output, top speed, or both. However, a handful of power-laden open-top vehicles have debuted over the last decade, setting higher top-speed records. The current record was broken earlier this week, and it comes as no surprise that the Bugatti Mistral broke it.

The convertible segment has seen a war for the title of the fastest convertible in the world begin, with several manufacturers adding to the list of contenders. Convertibles are not as fast as their closed-cockpit counterparts, but a handful of open-top models can reach break-neck speeds.

10 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet

Top Speed: 205 mph

The Porsche Turbo S cabriolet is revered for its docile and timid demeanor when asked to act well-mannered on a public road, through a bustling city, or simply floating from point A to point B while having enough grunt to blitz from a standstill to 60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds. The source of its grunt is a 3.7-liter flat-six engine coaxed by a pair of turbochargers that doesn’t offer the best fuel economy, but a nearly ten-second 1/4-mile sprint is a fair trade for 17 mpg. Even with the roof down, the four-seater convertible weighing 3,826 lb coupe can still pace with fervor to 205 mph and race to 150 mph in under 13 seconds.

9 Porsche Carrera GT

Top Speed: 205 mph

Porsche’s unruly super sports car needs very little introduction. It is founded on a carbon fiber chassis and tips the scales at 3,146 lb with all its attire. It is infamous for being the cause of Paul Walker’s untimely passing and is powered by the only V10 engine that Porsche ever fitted to one of its road-going models. The free-revving all-aluminum V10 that sits behind the driver and passenger’s head is responsible for its impressive performance and athleticism that offers the full weight of its power at 8,000 rpm and paired with a 6-speed manual transmission and differential that are housed in a lightweight carbon fiber subframe that is attached to the bulkhead.

8 Porsche 918 Spyder

Top Speed: 214 mph

The Porsche 918 Spyder was the successor to the mighty Carrera GT. Characterized by a timeless design, the Porsche 918 Spyder’s most notable difference between it and the Carrera GT was the powertrain that underpinned, featuring a V8 engine instead of a V10 engine and accompanied by a competent hybrid system. The mid-mounted eight-cylinder engine could muster up 608 hp and 398 lb-ft of torque on its own but was assisted by two electric motors and helped achieve an all-wheel-drive configuration. When it debuted, the 918 SPyder represented Porsche’s future ideals and was the pinnacle of its lineup. As the zenith of its engineering and performance standards, the 918 Spyder could lap the famed Nürburgring-Nordschleife in under seven minutes.

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7 Lamborghini Aventador SV Roadster

Top Speed: 217 mph

The SV in this Aventador Roadster’s nameplate is short for Super Veloce, which means super fast. It is a fitting name for a model that can compete with most closed-cockpit hypercars and supercars. It offered both coupe and roadster configurations, with the latter debuting in 2016 with only 500 examples planned for production. Both derivatives are motivated by a bellowing naturally aspirated V12 engine, which, in the open-top configuration that weighs just over 4,085 lbs, affords any driver behind the helm a wait time of just under 3 seconds to reach 62 mph.

6 Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster

Top Speed: 217 mph+

Despite debuting at the tail end of the late 2000s, the Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster’s performance metrics still hold, and it was limited to only five examples. At the center of its carbon-fiber-laden physique and luxurious interior is a boisterous twelve-cylinder engine sourced and developed by Mercedes-Benz. The Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster counterpart to the Zonda Cinque enjoys extensive weight-saving efforts that have improved its driving experience and performance. A source of the Roadster’s rigidity is the Carbon-Titanium chassis that has been redesigned and revised for application in the open-top variant of the Pagani Zonda.

5 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss

Top Speed: 217 mph

The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss was the swan song of the SLR lineage, named after revered British motorsport racing driver Stirling Moss. Even years after its debut and the arrival of otherworldly vehicles, the low-slung SLR has one of the most iconic body lines ever created, characterized by its long bonnet, a deep crease that runs along its flank, dual side exit exhaust, and, most importantly, the lack of a windshield and a roof. Regardless of its lack of a windshield, the Stirling Moss SLR tribute can still command its V8 engine to propel the two-seater Mercedes-Benz to an eye-watering top speed.

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4 Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Roadster

Top Speed: 250 mph+

The Hennessey Venom F5 range has quickly cemented itself within the upper echelons of the hypercar segment through sheer brute force and an angry engine, aptly referred to as “Fury.” The Revolution Roadster model inherits the same performance standards, visceral nature, and speed as its closed-cockpit counterparts in an open-top configuration. This Revolution model has a fairly easily removed roof, consists of highly rigid carbon fiber composites, and is a single-piece roof lined with soft Alcantara.

3 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse

Top Speed: 254 mph

A quad-turbocharged W16 engine and an all-wheel-drive system assisted by a front differential with a Haldex coupling and a rear limited slip differential allowed Bugatti to set a new performance standard. Its main accomplishment was its 254 mph top speed, which once meant it was the fastest car with its top down. The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse’s ability to stride to 254 mph meant that the Veyron’s skeleton needed to be reworked. Bugatti changed its monocoque by adding reinforcements to its side skirts and the transmission tunnel to achieve an optimal balance between rigidity and lightness.

2 Hennessey Venom GT Spyder

265.8 mph

Before the Venom F5, the Venom GT was based on a Lotus Elise chassis and motivated by an engine with the same features as the 6.6-liter power plant that propels the modern Venom F5 models. The Venom GT was offered in a coupe alongside this open-top configuration. The former was the more potent model of the two and had a higher top speed. Referred to as the Venom GT, this bright yellow modified Lotus had a recorded top speed of 270.4 mph. The open-top version wearing the “Spyder” designation had a slightly lower top speed but was enough to dethrone the Bugatti Veyron Grand Super Sport Vitesse by more than 11 mph.

1 Bugatti Mistral

282 mph

The Bugatti Mistral was the final send-off of the iconic W16 engine that Bugatti had employed in its ranks for years and throughout countless models. Not only that, but it was the first and only open-top offering from the French hypercar manufacturer based on the Chiron platform, albeit with a slightly revised design language. Regardless, the Mistral, a strong, cold north-westerly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France, debuted to serve as a pallbearer for a venerated engine configuration and to secure the title as the fastest drop-top car in the world.

Bugatti has finally achieved its goal of making the Mistral the fastest open-top vehicle in the world. With its top down, it sets a top speed of 268 mph, relinquishing the Venom GT Spyder’s title that it has held since 2014. Not only has the Mistral usurped the Venom GT Spyder’s record, but it has done so while wearing a similar color scheme as the Bugatti Veyron.

Sources:
Bugatti
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Lamborghini
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Porsche
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Hennessey Performance
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Mercedes-Benz
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Pagani