SEAT came very close to launch a convertible version of the Ibiza by 1990. This prototype, designed by Ital Design, is a concept-car very close to a potential road car, but ultimately it did not become a production model.

Convertibles based on B-segment hatchback cars formed a peculiar niche of the market in the '80s and '90s. At that time, SEAT had begun the second era of its history as an independent brand, and the symbol of the new journey was the Ibiza, a bestseller in the European car market.

In late 1988, SEAT unveiled a restyled Ibiza, focusing mainly on the interior. The highlight was a new dashboard, much more modern, in which conventional indicator and windscreen wiper stalks replaced the distinctive satellites of the first Ibiza. It was then that SEAT considered further diversifying the range by creating a series production Ibiza Cabrio for the near future, both as a hard-top and soft-top.

Ital Design's founder Giorgio Giugiaro was in charge of the design. Giugiaro had already drawn the original Ibiza and was then SEAT's designer of choice - they had just signed a new collaboration agreement for the design of SEAT's upcoming and future families of cars. Therefore, it was the ideal coachbuilder to transform the Ibiza into a feasible production series four-seater convertible (2+2).

The result was an attractive, fully open red Ibiza, enhanced by the front bumpers with integrated fog lights and the new grille painted in body colour of the Ibiza SXI sports car, as well as the new dashboard and interior of the restyled Ibiza, which had also adopted the new SXI-type grille. The black soft top is manually folded into a gap under the back cover. Having no roll bar in sight, the line of the open-top Ibiza is extremely pure, especially in the profile view.

However, with the '90s just around the corner SEAT was immersed in the development of an entirely new model, the SEAT Toledo, as well as in the construction of the modern Martorell factory, and those priorities prevented the Ibiza Cabrio from entering series production.

It would have been the first SEAT convertible since the gorgeous 1969 SEAT 850 Sport Spider. Interestingly enough, a young Giorgio Giugiaro had already been the 850 Sport's designer, while working for the Bertone coachbuilding company before founding Ital Design. This anecdote helps to follow the common thread of SEAT's design history.

However, Giugiaro's prototype was not the only attempt to create an Ibiza Cabrio. The appeal of the basic model served as a magnet for designers, and in 1986 the Greek coachbuilder Proto Design introduced the first Ibiza Cabrio, designed by Elias Bacoulas. It was black and sported a bulging roll bar.

The next company to look at the Ibiza was ASC. This American custom-built body firm landed in Europe in 1987 with an eye-catching all-red Ibiza Cabrio (body, bumpers, wheels, cabin...) with round fog lights. It was shown at the Barcelona and Frankfurt motorshows, and perhaps encouraged SEAT to undertake its own prototype with Giugiaro.

There was still a last private initiative, the work of the German specialized firm Bieber Cabriolet, based on the 1991 Ibiza New Style (the last restyling of the first generation), from which some units were made on request.

Giugiaro's prototype is part of the SEAT HISTÓRICOS' Collection - it's been fully restored so that you can drive with your hair flying in the wind.