Those Fiat folks are a weird bunch. The same people that have done a fabulous job in marketing and promoting all variants of the 500 mini, when it comes to releasing photos, they're slower than a PC with Vista working on 512MB of system memory. More than three months after the public debut of the 500 Convertible (officially called 500C) at the Geneva Show in March, and just as the mini begins to arrive at dealerships, the Italians published a comprehensive photo gallery of their latest creation.

Unlike its closest rival, the MINI Cooper Convertible, the 500C is not a full-blown cabriolet as Fiat opted for a simple rollback soft top retaining the car's roofline and C-pillar. In true 500-style, the ragtop is offered in three different colors - ivory, red and black that can be matched with several body colors, two of which have been conceived specifically for the new car in a brilliant Pearl Red and a special Warm Grey.

The four-seater (provided that the rear passengers aren't regulars at fast food chains such as McDonalds and its like) is offered in Europe with a choice of three powerplants including the 69HP 1.2-litre and 100HP 1.4-litre gasoline engines and a 75HP 1.3-liter MultiJet turbodiesel.

Since the tin-topped 500 has already been confirmed for the U.S. market after the Fiat-Chrysler link with sales expected to start at the end of 2010 - beginning of 2011, the addition of the softop variant to the range is almost certain.