The Kia Stinger was one of our favorite long-term fleet cars, and we were sorry it left. We’d be even more sad, we imagine, if our 2018 model had been one of the recently updated 2022 samples. One thing we never wondered though was if the Stinger would be better without a roof.
Maybe that’s because Autoblog is based in Michigan. In Florida, City Kia of Orlando has made a drop-top version called the Stinger GT-C. It debuted over the weekend at an event called Festivals of Speed, held at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando (not to be confused with the Goodwood Festival of Speed, or Festivals of Speed Total Landscaping).
The dealer created the one-off Stinger through its own parts store, which sells many of the items on the GT-C. Some of those parts include what City Kia calls a “multi-piece carbon fiber body kit, 20” forged wheels and a lowered suspension kit “.” The conversion of the convertible was done by a Florida store called Drop Top Customs. It is not clear whether the roof can be lowered and raised manually, electronically or not at all.
The interior is finished in custom black leather upholstery, which looks like it could be a thigh scorcher in the Sunshine State. Under the hood, City Kia says an air intake has been installed, the engine has been tuned and the cooling has been improved. There is also an aftermarket exhaust system, which they say has “unique rectangular ends”. If structural improvements have been made to make up for the chassis’ lack of overhead support, the dealer has not listed them at the time of writing.
Our experience with aftermarket converted open cars, even those sold with factory warranties like the 1990s Nissan 240SX built by ASC, was not good. Although they look good at first, quality issues manifest much earlier than if the cars were designed that way from the factory.
City Kia from Orlando says at the time that they will not produce more than one Stinger GT-C. “There has [sic] there were no decisions as to whether this vehicle would ever hit the market or what the price might be, ”says a press release.
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