Described as “anything and everything related to Corvettes,” the Cars and Crosbie channel needs no further introduction. On this occasion, we’re treated to a C8 Corvette’s targa top and what it means to stow it into the trunk.
First and foremost, it should be highlighted that all eight-gen cars produced to date – approximately 2,700 of them – are coupes. The convertible may or may not roll out for the 2020 model year, but on the upside, 2021 pre-orders are accepted. Having said that, let’s take a look at Morgan Crosbie’s car.
The YouTube vlogger says he had never taken the roof off before shooting this video, and curiously for this kind of clip, Morgan doesn’t explain the process of taking the roof off and putting it back into place. Happily, however, the owner’s manual has plenty of information on this topic on page 37.
Lowering the sun visors comes first, then you need to lower the windows. Two release handles on the front and one release handle at the rear of the roof panel later, press the rear release handle’s button to unlock it. The latch lever will open, and voila! Bear in mind, however, that it’s easier to lift and handle the panel by grasping it as close to the center as possible. Next up, all you need to do is to insert the roof into the trunk with the rear end first, positioning the rear pins into the receivers.
Page number 40 of the owner’s manual explicitly says that “it’s easier if two people install the roof panel” considering that the transparent targa top weighs 17 pounds, the body-color roof panel is 15.5 pounds, and the carbon-fiber top tips the scales at 14 pounds. In the metric system, make that 7.7 kilos at most.
As opposed to the seventh-generation Corvette, there’s no denying the roof of the C8 takes a lot of cargo capacity from the already small trunk. However, the mid-engine configuration means that your stuff can go into the frunk.
In total, the eighth-generation Corvette can take up 12.6 cubic feet (356.8 liters) compared to the 15 cubic feet (425 liters) of the C7 coupe. For reference, exotica such as the Ferrari F8 Tributo and Lamborghini Huracan offer 7.1 and 3.5 cubic feet (201 and 99 liters), respectively. Even the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera – featuring a front-engine layout – lags behind the C8 with only 10 cubic feet (283 liters).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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