2020 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible flexes new folding hardtop

Earlier this year, Chevrolet officially debuted the first-ever mid-engined Corvette. Together with the C8’s debut, General Motors also teased their upcoming race car together with a convertible version. Today, the automaker has finally revealed the drop-top variant.

Unlike the previous Corvette Convertible models, the C8 is the first to feature a retractable hardtop throughout the model’s entire history. It also uses six electric motors as opposed to hydraulic components used in previous cars, which Chevy says is more reliable.

“We put the world on notice when we introduced the first mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette a few months ago, and now we’re raising the bar with the first-ever hardtop Corvette convertible,” said Brian Sweeney, Chevrolet U.S. vice president.

When it comes to styling, both the Coupe and the Convertible have identical designs. Without looking at the roof (or lack thereof), it would be hard to distinguish one from another. With the roof down though, the rear cover of the Chevrolet Convertible looks similar to most mid-engine roadsters. There are two large flying buttresses behind the seats with a piece of glass in between which can be operated independently. Interestingly, the glass can also be lowered even with the roof up for more air, but without the sun.

Chevrolet will be offering the metal hardtop painted body color as standard. However, it can be painted in Carbon Flash, a dark metallic gray color, for an additional charge.

The unfortunate part about getting the Convertible is that you won’t have a window to view the mid-mounted engine. No need to worry as the C8 Convertible still packs the same 6.2-liter LT2 V8 engine which produces 496 PS and 637 Nm torque. It’s paired with the same 8-speed, dual-clutch transmission with power sent to the rear wheels. No performance details were released but, expect it to be slightly slower as the Corvette Convertible will be a bit heavier.

While the all-new C8 Corvette Coupe is (relatively) affordable, the Convertible will set you back a bit more. Compared to the coupe, the Corvette Convertible is $7,500 more expensive, roughly around Php 390,000. Still, at least the C8 Corvette is now available with the top down.