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Took my 13 GS coupe to visit my daughter at her college yesterday, about an hour away. It was bright, sunny and beautiful, but a pretty hot day . . . about 94 degress when I left my house around noon.
I put the transparent top in the hatch and drove with the A/C on . . . very comfortable as most of the drive was highway.
My daughter and I had a very nice lunch and I headed home, transparent top still off with a nice sunny sky. I noticed on my phone the Weather Channel was calling for a 35% chance of thunderstorms after 4:00, but I figured I was safe as I planned to be home around 4:15.
Bad call. At 4:00 the sky was still clear. At 4:10 the sun was gone, dark clouds everywhere, and I could see lightning in the distance. As I got off the highway, with only 3 miles to my house, I noticed a few drops on the windshield. So now I'm actually talking out loud, asking for the rain to wait, hoping for all green lights. But no luck. With less than a mile to go, the heavens opened up.
I was moving 40 miles an hour and was actually still dry . . . . until I had to slow and turn onto my 25 mph street. So now I'm getting wet as I drive through my neighborhood, but not soaked. But I still had to slowly turn into my driveway so I wouldn't scrape and pull into the garage.
It was that last 30 seconds that crushed me and made it look like I did the ice bucket challenge. Damn.
Pulled into the garage, and immediately dried off the seats, doors and center console. Plastic is good. The windshield actually kept the entire dash and steering wheel dry, and inside the hatch was dry too. I kept all the water off the drivers seat and I had a box of stuff from my daughter on the passenger seat that kept that cushion mostly dry. I was actually much wetter than the car.
Twenty minutes later the rain was done, and 10 minutes after that the sun was out again.
I do really love my coupe and don't mind taking the top on and off, but it sure would have been nice to press a button and put the top up like a convertible.
And the next time I see 35% chance of rain I'm gonna assume that means 100%.
Many years ago my ex and I road my Harley Road King from Fla to NC. Did about 1500 miles in a week with not a drop of rain. Was about 1.5 miles from home on the return and got caught in a torrential down pour. Go figure. Glad you and the vette survived....lol
You should take a bunch of pics to document your repair of the rain damage to help refute the Carfax report of 'Driven in Rain' when you decide to sell/trade it.
Probably best to just leave it the garage from now on and maybe occasionally sneak it out at night. The shame you must feel.
They were forcasting rain here one day and I wanted to take my 10 GS on a small journey to another town 50 miles away......The car had never seen rain so I said its time to really brake it in......I got my wish as it rained hard on me for most the trip.....the car did not melt or spin out or stall at the side of the road.....also no water leaks inside....at no time did I feel like it was hydroplaning or getting squirrly.....I did slow down to around 65-70 in the worst of it....now I won't worry about it when the sky's get dark and cloudy....
I had to use the "pull up the handbrake one click" routine a few weeks ago in the C6 convertible when an unexpected cloudburst caught me on the road. As the very first few drops hit the windshield my buddy, riding with me, was asking me why I was slowing down a bit, when speeding up seemed to make more sense to him. I grabbed one click on the handbrake, hit the top button, and enjoyed the amazed look on his face as we never stopped rolling and never got wet.
Now, getting caught in the rain in the '62 is a whole other animal. Doesn't make all that much difference if the top is up or down . . . You're gonna get wet!
I have owned four Corvettes, two of them were rained on during their trip home from the dealership!! No worries after that, as everyone has stated, they do not melt!!
You should take a bunch of pics to document your repair of the rain damage to help refute the Carfax report of 'Driven in Rain' when you decide to sell/trade it.
Probably best to just leave it the garage from now on and maybe occasionally sneak it out at night. The shame you must feel.
Sorry for your loss.
Perhaps I wasn't clear . . . I am not afraid to drive my GS in the rain and have done so before. In fact, the day I bought the car and drove it home it rained. I have no concerns about the car getting wet . . . on the outside.
I do not, however, usually drive it in a thunderstorm with the roof out and stowed in the back. Maybe its just me, but I am not a big fan of the interior getting rained on. Had a Jeep Wrangler once I used to leave out in the rain, but the Corvette ain't a Jeep.
my first top off vette experience in the rain.....I was only a couple miles from home when it started slowly sprinkling. .... As I got off the exit I luckily decided not to try to beat it home. ... ducked into a covered gas station and popped the top in. ...because It rained like a bitch..... and I would have been soaked inside. .. I had my cobra convertable down in Florida and by the time I could get stopped and the power top up there were puddles in the back seat......ugly
I sort of like driving the Corvette in the rain, but if I'm going to get caught in it, will be on the way home and close to the house. Enough to qualify foe a good washing that day.
Anytime I drive with the top off, if there is ANY chance for rain, I make sure to keep an eye on the clouds, soon as that goes away and I see gray clouds, dont care where I am, I pull over throw the top on and play it safe, much easier to dry the outside of the car then the damn inside.
Plus I dont need to look like I'm driving in a goldfish bowl by the time I get where I'm going.
Just wax the car on Sunday and Monday morning I was getting ready to go play golf. There was no chance of rain so I put the top down and left for the course. It started to spit a little and no big deal, then It started to rain so I pick up the speed to stay dry. I was doing good until the water started to rap around the front window. So I'm getting a little wet but not bad. As I pull into the course the high pressure sprinklers come on and came from behind me as POND water got me and the inside of the car. I also had a bad day playing golf. Just should have stayed home.
Just wax the car on Sunday and Monday morning I was getting ready to go play golf. There was no chance of rain so I put the top down and left for the course. It started to spit a little and no big deal, then It started to rain so I pick up the speed to stay dry. I was doing good until the water started to rap around the front window. So I'm getting a little wet but not bad. As I pull into the course the high pressure sprinklers come on and came from behind me as POND water got me and the inside of the car. I also had a bad day playing golf. Just should have stayed home.
Sounds like something from the Happy Gilmore movie, sorry you had a bad day.
Yep, happened to me today, 30% chance of rain this morning, and only off by like 8F today, by guys who purport to tell us what the climate will be 50 years out.
Total garage queen that's never spent a night outside. But I had to get to work and the other car was unavailable. And I don't recommend it with drag radials.
Now it's spotted like one of those black leopards. That'll teach me to procrastinate buying a daily driver.
I have owned four Corvettes, two of them were rained on during their trip home from the dealership!! No worries after that, as everyone has stated, they do not melt!!
I drove 90 miles home in a rain storm the day I bought my C6. I got up the next morning and washed it and it was cold as you know what, but I couldn't stand it being dirty so I didn't feel the cold too much. I don't drive it in the rain if I can avoid it, but it won't melt and it's a pretty easy car to wash.
Yep, I have a power top and I've had to pull over and put it up a couple of times. Not bad unless you wait until it is pouring. You don't really get wet until you stop.
09-07-2014, 10:07 AM
Caught in the rain
