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Only the top is soft in new Audi A5/S5 cabriolet

Audi is bucking the trend among luxury automakers who are churning out hardtop convertibles, as the new A5/S5 cabriolets that will reach these shores in October will be the old-fashioned, soft-top design. While other manufacturers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Volvo, among others, offer folding hard-tops, Audi says the compromise necessary to make room for the top and all its mechanical apparatus makes a soft-top the right choice for a small to mid-size convertible. The soft top is well insulated; even during a steady rain during our first drive of the car, the cabin was relatively quiet.

Keels & Wheels concours features classic cars, wooden boats and more

“Not just anyone can do this,” a clearly exhausted Bob Fuller, chairman and founder of the 17th-annual Keels & Wheels Concours d' Elegance, said shortly after presiding over the awarding of 69 trophies in the automotive division of the two-day classic-car and wooden-boat show held at Seabrook's Lakewood Yacht Club south of Houston, Texas. “You have to have the facilities to do this, and we have these beautiful grounds surrounding this big protected harbor,” said Fuller, a car and boat collector. Fuller collaborated with cochairman Bob Merryman, then-president of the Southwest Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, to found the event, which benefits the Boys & Girls Harbor nonprofit.

Is the car industry heading toward the past?

Is the future of cars decidedly old school? An NPR blogger certainly thinks so. NPR Business Desk reporter Sonari Glinton recently likened the 2014 Detroit auto show to an era 40 years ago, reflecting the possibility that the renewed zeitgeist of an entire convention indicates a "retro" kind of thinking.