We're all familiar with the traditional soft top on convertibles, and in recent years we've also become used to the new generation of convertibles and their folding metal roofs. Now a sketch has surfaced which is alleged to be a patent application from Porsche for a new kind of convertible roof. This new kind of roof is a mix of soft top and a folding metal roof, with the top being metal and the back, the part around the rear window, made out of cloth.

It's difficult to imagine exactly how it will look, and it's even more difficult to picture it as looking anything but ridiculous, but we couldn't say for sure from the sketch. It Is further alleged that this will be the roof used for the 2012 911 Cabriolet. Should this actually make it to production, it is expected to offer a noticeable weight and space advantage over a more traditional folding metal roof. We'll just have to wait and see if it looks good.