...I thought the whole thing lit up, like the new style ultra-thin light boxes....

I believe you are correct and that the plate is actually backlit but I may be wrong.

Either way, really cool if it does!

The aeromax comes with a standard chrome licence plate holder with chrome lights to illuminate it. At least the 3 at the factory I saw today did.

Whilst I appreciate 'tis your opinion I do feel that is a bit strong

My hood (on my S2) is the easiest I have had on any car bar my S2000 and I have had at least 9 other convertibles in my time (I too favour an open top but given the opportunity of an Aeromax I would have no hesitation, if you can afford the £120k you can afford another £30-40k for a convertible also )

I can put my roof up (or down) in about 4 seconds by reaching up over my shoulders and pulling it up. I appreciate this may not be possible on newer cars as it is too stiff when new but I'm sure something can be done. This can be done virtually on the move. Ask Speedmog, whilst following him in convoy with an S1 the heavens opened, I pulled over into a layby, coasted had my roof up and sealed without stopping and pulled straight out. I dont think he pulled away more than 50m.

Also the hood in my Aero barely leaks. The only time I have any ingress is if its left outside in torrential driving rain I get a tiny puddle (and I mean small) on the drivers ledge and a few drops on the passengers. On the move I get virtually no ingress at all. I am using words like 'virtually' in order that I am not caught out by saying 'nothing'.

Lastly the hood is lined and thus reasonably quiet (please note the word reasonably ) not as good as the 911 hood but better than my old 325 hood! It does of course sit proud as we have seen on other threads but no worse than an XKR (last model) or a 993 911. I think bearing in mind the size of the car and the fact it has a reasonable boot (which I think is the cause) I dont think this I'd such a big deal.

I hope this doesn't come across as a 'he criticised my car so I will rant' type post. I just felt that the comments a bit strong and wouldn't want anyone reading this thread to take that opinion as Gospel.

Things do improve - the hood on the S4 is watertight, but does sit up behind the seats (photo to follow)
It is also very stiff needing two outside the car to put it up.
The plus side is that the sealing is much better and the car is quieter at speed.

I had a mkI till 6 months ago and the sole reason to sell the car was the "abomination" hood. It leaked in so many places that I just had enough.

I can't comment on the S1 as my car is an S2 and I am led to believe the hood is a big improvement. My comments stand for S2 onwards.

Just on the ferry back from St Tropez (via Calais of course) where we were subjected to the odd shower and where it poured overnight every night. No problems again. I also managed to get the roof closed (utilizing the help of my passenger while still moving at 20 - 30 mph

My S1 hood doesn't leak at all. Could use some more soundproofing though. Apparently some S1 roofs are better than others.

S1 roofs vary wildly. Mine was great, very little leakage even in a torrential downpour, and no worse than a 318 convertible my brother once owned. The odd drip in very heavey weather, but no big deal.

S2 is totally watertight, and the hood folds down relatively flat compared to some of the 'pram style' ones. Woudl be great to have the rear cowl flip up to drop the hood under, but it all adds weight to do..