JoesC5

This old photo should jog your memory. Here I am with my 57 Ford convertible(notice my "cool" custom white rolled and pleated interior) when I was in the Air Force.

I was stationed in Wichita, Kansas and the wind always is blowing. One day, it started snowing early morning and it was a dry fine powdery snow. When I got off work, there was not much snow on the ground(blown into drifts), but when I opened the door to my car, there was snow everywhere.



The following summer, I purchased a new 1964 Malibu SS hardtop, not a convertible.

Paul L

As stated, it is heavy and bulky but it sure does look nice.

Bunk

A removable hard convertible top would take away my worry of someone cutting the soft top especially on those trip far from home

gurneyeagle

I think it looks great.


What I find interesting is that a number of early C3 race cars were convertibles fitted with the hardtop.


I just see it as a nice alternative to the soft top in the winter or when you want a little more security.


I fully understand the weight/bulk issue as a neighbor once had an mid-80's Mercedes 500 SL and had a pulley set-up in the garage to remove and store the top.

Paul L

It is quite a chore to get it out of the basement and on to the car.

My soft top is Haartz cloth and very durable. The hard top was a winter restoration project three years ago. Just for fun although it does look good.

James Garner campaigned C3 convertibles with hardtops on the road race circuit many moons ago.

05XLRtoC7_San Diego

Yeah, I have some anxiety parking my car (especially overnight) away from my house due to this as well.

I haven't really seen any posts about anyone's C7 tops being cut?
You'd need a pretty heavy-duty knife to cut through all the layers of cloth fabric.
Even if they did that, they couldn't open the door using the electronic push button.
Although the thief may not realize this until *after* they cut the top.

To get in, they'd have to know about the emergency release lever on the floor to open the door. And most thieves aren't that knowledgeable.

owc6

I have never worried too much about this type of break-in. Most newer convertibles have tops similar to ours with many layers of fabric, so I think the thieves know this, and at best, it's awkward and time-consuming. *knock wood!*

I'm more worried about a rock and a window. Smash and grab is more likely than most other types of break-ins, IMO.

The most important thing you can do to deter this kind of thing, besides parking in a well-lit area, is NEVER leave anything visible in the car overnight. Even to the point of wiping off the suction cup marks from the RD (or nav system).

tooold2race

I asked the GM / Corvette group guys some years back at Carlisle why the removable hardtop wasn't offered and the response was simple.... lack of interest by the marketplace. Not enough people were interested in one as an option to invest in the development of one. My last four have been new 'ragtops'. I would also have bought a removable hardtop if one was available from the factory just to have one, but it would likely have just taken up space in the garage.... so I guess they are right.

Wolfie

I had a 66 vert with a removable hardtop. What I liked about it was it changed the appearance and look of the car. The top was heavy and you wouldn't want to take it on and off regularly. The tops have changed so much now with multi layers of fabric that I would not want one for my C7.

crawfish333

To play the devils advocate: too much extra weight and would take up extra space in an already crowded trunk.

Also, Why do it if the vert is selling well?

robert miller

Had my system on with window open put my hand in the car pulled the hood hatch open will set it off. So if on & you do anything on the inside by what happen to me will set it off.. Robert

05XLRtoC7_San Diego

True, but the alarm probably won't go off as they are cutting the top. It will trigger only once they put their hand inside of the cabin.

Hope that none of us has this happen!

05XLRtoC7_San Diego

Convertible sales are relatively small......
In 2015 GM built 20,757 Stingray Coupes which accounted for 60.6% of Corvette production. The Z06 Coupe was second with 6,980 built for a 20.4% share. The Corvette Stingray Convertible’s production was 4,830 for 14.1% and finally the Corvette Z06 Convertible total was 1,673 for 4.9%.

There are ways to design it so it doesn't take up much space.
Look at how McLaren designed theirs - only adds 88 lbs.

DAFFYDRUNK

A thought I had about cutting the top. Might be some merit to doing it for the sake of vandalism, but if you wanna steal stuff out of my car, it's much quicker to break the window. Not sure I'll ever really worry about the top getting vandalized by someone. If they're gonna trash the car they do it whether it's a coupe or vert...

05XLRtoC7_San Diego

Good point. Window is probably easier than all the layers of the top.
And the fact that we don't have a physical door lock that they can just pull up hopefully is a deterrent.

This video is crazy- can't believe he did this during BROAD DAYLIGHT