A latch for a top of an automobile has a housing mounted on the top with a movable latching hook cooperating with a link mounted on the windshield frame. The latching hook is displaceable by an actuating device from a closed position into an open position. To produce a latch which forms a compact module, takes up little space in the transverse vehicle direction, and whose latching hook is movable by a motor, the motorized actuating device for the latching hook has a drive motor aligned approximately parallel to the lengthwise direction of the latching hook. The motor is in an operating relationship through a transverse transmission element and a downstream transmission with a drive lever to move the latching hook.