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Here's
the story...
Illustrated
Corvette Series No. 106 - 1998 Corvette Roadster
"The
Roadster Returns"
In the early ‘80s when the
C4 Corvette was being designed, a convertible version was not part of
the plan. Convertibles had fallen out of favor in the ‘70s.
When the decision was made to make a roadster C4 Corvette, an add-on,
x-brace was needed for structural rigidity. The fix worked and it was
great to have the Roadster back. But unlike the C4, the C5 was designed
to be a roadster right from the beginning.
During the eleven-year run from 1986
to 1996, Chevrolet sold 74,651 Corvette Roadsters. This accounted for
approximately 25-percent of the Corvette’s annual sales.
Chief Engineer Dave Hill wasn’t about to let the new C5
Roadster be a second-thought version.
Magazine writers who road tested the
‘98 Roadster were astonished at how the car was just as rigid
as the coupe version. The usual convertible
“wiggle” was hardly noticeable. The new C5 Roadster
weighed 114-pounds less than the ’96 C4 version and the
chassis was 4-times stiffer than the C4. One magazine tested the car
and found that the salon times were on par with the Ferrari 550
Maranello and the Jaguar XK8 Coupe. The cynics were almost speechless.
The aesthetics of the new Roadster
were picture-perfect. Unlike most convertibles, a hard tonneau cover
was already part of the body design. Lowering the top required
releasing two latches at the top of the windshield, pushing a button to
release the tonneau cover, then manually lowering the top into the
trunk. It only took 6-to-10-seconds to get the top down. An electric
system would have been nice, but the manual system kept the weight to
just one-pound more than the coupe.
Except for a few noise reduction
adjustments, the ‘98 Corvette was the same as the
’97 model. However, the Roadster had several very nice
features. The convertible top was fully insulated and the rear glass
was heated. A separate “trunk” with outside access
hadn’t been available since ‘62. The storage space
was slightly more than half of the Coupe at 13.9 cubic-feet, versus
24.8 cubic-feet. And with the top down, there was 11.1 cubic-feet of
space. The stereo system was speed sensitive and would increase in
volume at higher speeds with the top down.
For a roadster, the aerodynamics were
excellent. The coefficient of drag was .33 for the ‘98
Roadster and .29 for the ‘98 Coupe. Considering that the
coefficient of drag for the ’84 Corvette Coupe was .34, this
was amazing.
Corvette Roadsters had long-since
carried a premium, and the new C5 Roadster was no exception. The $6,930
option priced the car at $44,425 before any other options. However,
this was $635 less than a ‘96 Roadster! A fully-loaded
’98 Roadster cost over $52,000 - not including the $5,039
Indy 500 Pace Car Replica package.
The ‘98 Corvette Roadster
was bloody fast as well. One road test reported an automatic version
with 0-60 times of 4.9-seconds, quarter-mile times of 13.4-seconds at
105.5 m.p.h., and a top speed of 167 m.p.h. with the top down. The
Roadster was back and it was better than ever!
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