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In Brisbane, Australia I can drive top down twelve months out of the year. If I were to get caught in a sudden downpour, the convertible top goes up a lot quicker than the targa tops. I have four cars and three are convertibles.
I also love the looks of the coupe and the FRC. I owned a C3 coupe before the C5. I think that it just comes down to personal preference. The truth is, all Corvettes are beautiful.
Convertible: Looks great with the top down, not so great with it up. The top will eventually need to be replaced/repaired.
FRC: Looks great, but you lose any form of that wind in your hair experience.
Coupe: Looks great, no expensive top to maintain and the roof comes off!
I went with the coupe. It's the perfect compromise imo.
I think convertibles look great top up or down. If the top is taken care of it will last the life of the car. Coupes have their own issues with their tops.
SUV is useless for me and most, but I would buy a C5/C6 shooting brake if it existed. Damn Americans and their SUV's are the reason we can't buy any shooting brakes and hardly any wagons in this country
I bought the car for performance and dumbly assumed that I could at least bring 1 spare tire with me to the track without towing a trailer. My mistake, but either way the FRC trunk is not "huge" by any reasonable definition. It's one of the smallest trunks you can get in an automobile.
Imagine if this actually existed: performance of a C5, trunk space of your SUV...
lol.. My FRC is for fun, My SUV is for family trips towing my boat and other toy's..... Only in america i guess
I have a FRC and love it, we have gone away for a weeks at a time and there is more than enough room for 4 carry on suitcases + cleaning stuff. If I need to I send dirty clothes to the hotel laundry, so the small trunk is no problem at all. I have a partition and I can leave two suit cases in the car for an overnight stay, out of sight. I loved the body style the first time I saw it, and today I still love it.
Convertible: Looks great with the top down, not so great with it up. The top will eventually need to be replaced/repaired.
FRC: Looks great, but you lose any form of that wind in your hair experience.
Coupe: Looks great, no expensive top to maintain and the roof comes off!
I went with the coupe. It's the perfect compromise imo.
It sure does, Google 'flying roof club".
Remember, once you take that top off and store it in the rear, you just lose all that "extra space" you had and then some.
It sure does, Google 'flying roof club".
Remember, once you take that top off and store it in the rear, you just lose all that "extra space" you had and then some.
Actually you'd still have a lot more room than a convertible. There is still plenty of storage space underneath, and behind, the top.
When I first started looking (my first Vette ever), I immediately liked the coupe for the styling only, not realizing there were other benefits (IMO).
I liked that it reminded me of the old Stingray fastbacks. Then I realized the other two benefits. The top was removeable and there was a very large storage space under that glass.
The one thing I wouldn't settle for was an automatic or yellow. ...oh that would be two things
Reason one, it's a pleasure car first. Open to the world or closed in and looking out. I like to tour around and check things out, unsurpassed sight lines out. Plus, you can smell the different scenic areas you pass through, a closed car misses this. Also, bystanders will talk to you while you are behind the wheel, it's a friendlier experience than a closed car.
I don't feel security is inferior. If a thief sees something in the car, he is not going to burrow in through the top. The side window gets broken like any other car, they don't carry special tools for convertibles.
I never considered the looks. I like the fastbacks for looks. For function, the convertible.
This is how it is for me. Two fine cars next to each other. A convertible pulls up and those two other cars are now second string only. Ask someone which car they want to drive.
Unless you don't want your hair mussed, or need to go as fast as possible at all times, it is the logical choice. I would think if you have never enjoyed a convertible, this would be the car line to use to check it out.
I once read about a guy who had carved on his tombstone, "Never owned a four door car". I have to respect his approach to life. And, if you check the sales records, the convertible has the most market share, so the guy is not alone in his shunning of inferior body styles.
Was this a Test?
My extra credit answer would involve giant redwood groves and the smells of mountain meadows , views of the space shuttle flying overhead on it's way to the museum, and lots of Bikinis.
Coupe, because I think it's the best looking C5 body style. You have more room and the removable top is nice.
I do not like the big *** on the FRC and the only reason I wouldn't consider a Z06.
I am not a fan of convertibles. I do not like the way they look. This is not specific to the C5 as I think they look hideous on 99% of all cars.
I was going to just read this thread and not post in it because it all comes down mostly to defense of what you have. But I must inform you the *** on all of these C5's is the same ***.
So while I'm here I will defend what I have because I didn't just go out and find a vette I could afford or was available.
I purposely looked for a Hard Top because I think they are the best looking vette ever built. (until the C7 came out anyway). I'm not defending what I happen to have, it's actually my favorite of the entire lineup of vettes. I don't care how much bigger the coupe back is and I have never been an open air person.
Although I do think the C5 vert is one nice looking vette for sure. it's just not me. I would love a Z06 but they were a tad out of my range when I went looking for a C5 and to be honest, my FRC is very unique and not many people have one in the scheme of things.
I also appreciate that people have different tastes because life would be boring if we all had the same car, and we're lucky the C5 has 3 very different versions of the same car and that makes them special and unique IMO.
Last edited by RetiredSFC 97; 07-22-2014 at 05:04 PM.
I was going to just read this thread and not post in it because it all comes down mostly to defense of what you have. But I must inform you the *** on all of these C5's is the same ***.
So while I'm here I will defend what I have because I didn't just go out and find a vette I could afford or was available.
I purposely looked for a Hard Top because I think they are the best looking vette ever built. (until the C7 came out anyway). I'm not defending what I happen to have, it's actually my favorite of the entire lineup of vettes. I don't care how much bigger the coupe back is and I have never been an open air person.
Although I do think the C5 vert is one nice looking vette for sure. it's just not me.
You have to be an open air person to like a convertible. I have had both a T-top and Convertible and I do like the convertible better for cruising.
You have to be an open air person to like a convertible. I have had both a T-top and Convertible and I do like the convertible better for cruising.
I wish I did like them. I've always loved the look of all verts and they just look damn fun. But I also love my music and they get a tad noisy for my jam.
Actually you'd still have a lot more room than a convertible. There is still plenty of storage space underneath, and behind, the top.
You need to look again at a convertible trunk. Sure you can stack stuff on top of the top in the rear of a coupe, but you can damage the top, and you have to unload your stacked stuff to get the top out. When you hit the brakes you can be wearing your stacked stuff around your ears. Anyone can justify whichever they want by stating a positive. The positive of a convertible is the room is there top up or down, and it can be closed and your stuff is out of sight. I don't blame you for liking a coupe, I do too. But, not because it has storage space on top of and below the top.
I wish I did like them. I've always loved the look of all verts and they just look damn fun. But I also love my music and they get a tad noisy for my jam.
Yes. The noise is part of the experience. It does hamper music enjoyment.
Coupe, definitely coupe. The coupe roofline just blends in perfectly with the rest of the body lines on the C5. Love the look of a vert WHEN the top is DOWN, but when up it looks just like a FRC which I do not like at all. The short FRC roofline just makes the trunk lid look way too long & out of proportion with the rest of the car, IMO. Also, as many others have said the interior of a coupe is much more open & roomier with the direct access to the rear storage area. If I lived in Florida where top down driving might be more of a year-round option I might consider a vert, but until then it's gotta be a coupe.
Vert of course..they feel and look the best with the top down, get the most attention and compliments and you don't have to worry about carrying the heavy hot top of the coupe or it flying off(yes I'm a former member of that club) I like the way the FRC looks, and it might look the best with all the tops on/up but I hate not being able to remove the top on a nice cool sunny day or night..I had a 99 Torch Red Coupe right before my 01 Torch Vert and my vert gets so much more attention and compliments it's not even close
Last edited by F&Yb0dluvr; 07-22-2014 at 07:07 PM.
07-22-2014, 12:56 PM
...oh that would be two things 
