Mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette convertible makes its official debut October 2

With a brief, seven-second video posted on Twitter, Chevrolet has announced that the convertible version of the new, mid-engine 2020 Corvette will get its official reveal on October 2, 2019. Exact time or place has yet to be announced but the video, which shows a side image of the coupe losing its roof panel, does give us a clue or two about how the open Corvette will look.

Those clues, however, are a bit superfluous, as Chevrolet already revealed some shots of the Corvette convertible back in July, when the new mid-engine C8 coupe was first shown to the public. From the A-pillar forward, the two vehicles are identical and the side profile remains pretty much intact in the convertible. The Corvette’s V-8 engine, however, won’t be exposed under a glass cover as it is in the coupe. Instead, a solid panel and cooling louvers will top the engine compartment. Individual nacelles, which presumably incorporate rollover protection, flow back from each seat, maintaining the coupe’s fastback lines from the side.

Just don’t call it a “ragtop,”as the new ‘Vette cabriolet will have a retractable hardtop, not a fabric roof.

Most mechanical specifications should be unchanged from the coupe, which has a 6.2-liter 490-horsepower V-8 engine mounted midship (495 with the optional Z51 performance package) and an all-new eight-speed dual-clutch transaxle. Previously leaked specifications show the C8 convertible as gaining just 102 lbs over the base coupe, so performance figures should be just a little bit slower than from the hardtop.