These Are The Weirdest Convertibles Ever Built By This Infamous Custom Drop-Top Shop

As a Los Angeles County native, we always referred to visiting Orange County as crossing the orange curtain because of the stark shift in political tendencies. We know things work a bit differently in OC, but that's no excuse for the wacky convertible conversions that come out of Newport Convertible Engineering in Huntington Beach, California. This is the birthplace of the infamous convertible woodie Porsche Cayenne, for reference.

Non-OEM convertible conversions and the companies that engineer them are incredibly important in automotive history. Some of the most successful convertible conversion specialists include Wilhelm Karmann GmbH and the American Sunroof Company (ASC), both of which were commissioned by OEMs to design folding roofs for production cars. Fans of classic cars will recognize both of those names, since they've been tacked onto a few popular convertibles like the Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia and the ASC/McLaren Ford Mustang and Mercury Capri. Both Karmann and ASC eventually became OEM suppliers, with ASC playing a role in the development of a diverse array of convertibles like the BMW Z3, Saab 900 convertible, Chevrolet SSR, and Nissan 300ZX convertible to name a few. Karmann helped Volkswagen develop the Beetle Cabriolet and Golf Cabriolet, as well as hard tops like the Scirocco and Corrado, and many more models from different companies, too.

Newport Convertible Engineering doesn't have quite the same pedigree as ASC or Karmann just yet, but that doesn't mean the company should be counted out. Nowadays, it seems as though automakers are shying away from the complication and expense of developing new cars with folding roofs, so converters like these may be growing more important for those of us who like going topless. That said, Newport Convertible Engineering has been commissioned to turn some very unlikely candidates from stock hardtops into custom cloth tops. This is a list of the weirdest convertibles made by Orange County's most infamous custom shop.

Landulets are vehicles where only the rear portion of the roof over the back seats is retractable. Maybach sold a factory Landulet, but it was incredibly rare and expensive, so perhaps this was a more accessible way to get a landulet roof on someone's prized Maybach.

This is so low on the list because the cloth roof on this Model S doesn't actually look bad when it's closed. It mimics the original Model S roofline admirably, despite the, shall we say unique graphics and wheels.

The Model 3 is a smaller, cheaper, less attractive car than the Model S, so it placed higher on the list because it's surprising that someone put the money into having this compact BMW 3-Series competitor converted into a ragtop. Its roofline is also less streamlined than the Model S, landing it higher on the weirdness scale.

I'll be honest, I didn't realize that there was never a Mercedes-produced convertible CL-Class in this generation. It wasn't until the next generation when the CL transitioned into the S-Class Coupe that it also gained an OEM ragtop version. Regardless, this conversion actually looks pretty convincing, though it's weird to see.

This Ferrari 812 Superfast made the list because it looks alarmingly similar to a C6 Corvette convertible. Does anyone else see the resemblance?

This is where things start getting funky. The G63's boxy, military look lends itself well to a geometric folding roof, especially with the little slant to the rear. The top appears to fit relatively well, but the thickness of that C-pillar must eliminate rearward visibility.

This threw me off. I'm very curious as to how Newport Convertible went about turning a full-sized Range Rover into a two-door. That said, despite this Strange Rover's funky silhouette, it's better than the four-door Range Rover convertible. You'll agree later.

This is just one example of a convertible Cayenne produced by Newport Convertibles. It's not the woodie because I couldn't find any high-resolution photos of that one, but it still looks very strange. I'd be curious to see how the driving experience was impacted by chopping the top.

A Genesis G90 is definitely not a car I'd expect to see turned into a convertible. The type of person who would pay to have a custom convertible conversion must have a lot of money, so why not go full-hog and convert something like a Bentley Flying Spur? Maybe rich people count their pennies, too. I wouldn't know, but I do know this is a strange car to have turned into a convertible.

The Jaguar XJ had sexy, swooping, elegant curves that were totally butchered in the transition to becoming a ragtop. It must be obscenely difficult to engineer a folding roof that suits the needs of these long sedans, but this still looks really clunky.

The top fitment of this Lexus LX 570 convertible is diabolical. These SUV conversions appear to require some intricate wizardry toward the rear of the vehicle to get everything to fold away neatly. I'd just leave the top down on this one.

I wondered why many of the other conversions did away with the rear door window frames until I saw this. Leaving the full door frame on the rear doors makes this Escalade look like its pickup truck platform mate, the Chevy Silverado.

This Range Rover's rear doors survived the transition to becoming a soft top, but the C-pillar that's as long as the glass area? That's a no from me, boss. Is this four-door Range Rover convertible better or worse than the two-door Range Rover convertible conversion?

If you told me I would like a Ford F-150 convertible, I'd call you crazy. This conversion doesn't look that bad if I'm honest, but a full-sized, full-cab pickup truck with a folding fabric roof was not something I ever thought I'd see.

This is the weirdest conversion that Newport Convertible Engineering has made. In the U.S., we'd call this a Nissan Armada, but in other regions it's called a Nissan Patrol. This Patrol has been stretched by an entire door's length, and the roof has been surgically removed. It's billed as a hunting vehicle, so at least it's got a... practical... reason for being so large and topless. On the scale from boring to batshit crazy, this definitely leans alarmingly toward the automotive absurd. Well done, team.