SUCCESSOR TO THE venerable F430, the 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia made its official ‘in the metal’ debut at last week’s Frankfurt Motor Show after first being revealed to the world in late July.

Of course, the unveiling of any new Ferrari inevitably brings rumours and speculation of a convertible version to follow.

It’s a little way off, but speaking with Italian news site Quattroruote this week, Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemelo has revealed that a droptop 458 is, in fact, on the way.

“Deliveries of the Ferrari 458 Italia will begin in mid-January 2010,” Mr di Montezemolo said. “We are also planning a Spider version, but not for a couple of years.”

Like its forebears, a convertible 458 would likely bear the ‘Spider’ name.

As our speculative rendering shows, the 458 Italia Spider will also likely follow in the styling footsteps of the F430 Spider in retaining most of the lines of the hardtop, but with roll hoops and engine cover integrated into the rear deck.

Despite the move towards a retractable hardtop roof for the recently launched entry-level Ferrari California, the 458 Italia Spider - with a more performance-oriented buyer in mind - is likely to follow the same path as its F430 progenitor, utilising a lightweight canvas roof.

If powered by the same 425kW 4.5 litre V8 as its hardtop sibling (which is also likely), the 458 Italia Spider can be expected to benefit from chassis reinforcement to ensure the roof’s absence does not rob the car of the track-ready handling Ferrari has engineered into the 458 Italia hardtop.

Gran Turismo 5 And The 458 Italia

Following this week’s announcement that the latest Gran Turismo instalment will hit Japanese shelves in March next year, Sony and Polyphony Digital have released a new trailer.

Focusing entirely on the 458 Italia, the latest Gran Turismo 5 trailer features the new Ferrari navigating a variety of tracks, to the tune of Just One Second by UK outfit London Elektricity.

GALLERY » 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia Spider Rendering