Interesting news at local dealer...

[Gorgon]

Stopped by a dealer to check out the C6 that they had in the showroom. Got a chance to take a very close look at it and it is a fantastic machine. I was a little more impressed with the interior than I was with the previous car I checked out previously. I hadn't taken too close a look at it.

Anyway, I was talking with an employee that said that the Z06 was going to have a convertible hard top. I guess it would be similar to the XLR though he was referencing the top on the SSR. Personally I don't believe it as Dave Hill has repeatedly said that the Z06 would NOT be a convertible and I don't see them providing this option. But he was pretty insistent that it would be available.

Perhaps this is how they plan on providing both? Top down driving with the better stability and rigidity with the folding hard top? I guess we'll find out more in a few more months...

[c4cruiser]

Dealers (salesmen) are usually misinformed about a lot of Corvette-related information. My local dealer does not know much of anything about Corvettes. I asked them a few months ago about the Museum Delivery Option (R8C) and they told me that cars are only shipped to the selling dealer.

So I asked them to look up RPO R8C and tell me what it was. The guy came back and said that he didn't know about that option and couldn't figure out why somebody would want to travel across the country and pay $490 to take delivery of the car at "this museum". So sad.....

[Gorgon]

Originally Posted by c4cruiser

Dealers (salesmen) are usually misinformed about a lot of Corvette-related information.

I totally agree with this that's why I find it highly doubtful. To his credit he did correct me with the fact that the power top option on the C6 vert was the first since 1962. I didn't believe that the Vette had ever had a power top but when I got home I pulled out my Black Book and found he was correct.

Like I said though, personally, I don't believe the info.

Leon

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Gorgon

Stopped by a dealer to check out the C6 that they had in the showroom. Got a chance to take a very close look at it and it is a fantastic machine. I was a little more impressed with the interior than I was with the previous car I checked out previously. I hadn't taken too close a look at it.

Anyway, I was talking with an employee that said that the Z06 was going to have a convertible hard top. I guess it would be similar to the XLR though he was referencing the top on the SSR. Personally I don't believe it as Dave Hill has repeatedly said that the Z06 would NOT be a convertible and I don't see them providing this option. But he was pretty insistent that it would be available.

Perhaps this is how they plan on providing both? Top down driving with the better stability and rigidity with the folding hard top? I guess we'll find out more in a few more months...

Personally, I would be very skeptical of this. It goes against the whole concept behind the Z06 and against the mantra that Dave Hill has preached for a few years now regarding the concept behind the Z06 - a lighter, faster, harder-edged Corvette for the more performance-oriented enthusiast. One of the reasons why they did not do a convertible Z06 is because they wanted the entire structure to be as stiff as possible in order to maximize performance. When you chop the roof off an automobile, you compromise structural integrity.

Not only would this compromise the structural integrity of the Z06 (assuming that it does not have an entirely new chassis/frame-rail structure to compensate for the removal of the roof structure), but the automatic solid top mechanism would also add additional and unnecessary (in my opinion), weight to the car.

Just my own personal two cents. Personally, I hope they do not come out with a solid power top on the next gen. Z06. Keep it simple, keep it light, make it more unique than a base model Corvette, and give it enough horsepower and torque to mimic that of a black stallion that just had a bonfire lit under its ass.