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C8 Corvette Stingray comes with a removable center roof panel, but a true convertible will eventually arrive.

Prior to the debut of the all-new C8 Chevrolet Corvette, we brought you renderings of what the next generation Stingray might look like. Next, we brought you detailed coverage of the C8 debut from Southern California with a look at the car from every angle coupled with our views on the long-awaited shift to the mid-engine design.

Today, we bring you a look at what we expect to see when the C8 Corvette convertible arrives, and while we don’t have an arrival date, we would bet that one is coming sooner than later.

Proper Drop Top

The C8 Corvette, like the C7, comes with a removable top in coupe form. Of course, the C8 has the engine under the back glass, but in terms of the removable roof panel over the driver and passenger, the C8 design mimics that of the C7. The idea is to create the open air feel while offering the profile of a hard-top along with the interior sound levels of a fixed roof car.

However, in offering the removable roof panel, the chassis has to be reinforced to maintain the intended structural rigidity when the roof is removed. That is the key issue with the transition from a coupe or fastback to a convertible, as in many cases, removing the roof tends to weaken the chassis a bit. Since the C8 Corvette is obviously designed to operate without the reinforcement of the roof, there is no question that this chassis will support a proper drop-top.

C8 Corvette Convertible Rendering

As you can see in our rendering here, our artist has removed the roof and the glass over the engine of the new Corvette. Ultimately, it seems as though GM will have a hard time showing off the mid-mounted engine with a convertible, as the top has to fold down somewhere and having a small piece of glass between the roof storage compartment and the trunk seems unlikely, but for those who want a true convertible experience, the trade-off of not being able to view the engine through the backglass is a minor one.

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