Production Plans for 2005 Corvette Coupe

Chevrolet will start producing the 2005 Corvette coupe at its Bowling Green, Ky., plant in late July and, if all goes well, add the convertible to the mix a few weeks after that.

"We haven't picked a date yet to produce the convertible," said Rick Baldick, marketing director Corvette/SSR for Chevrolet. "Our mission is to get the coupe dead solid perfect before we add the convertible."

He said it's likely the coupe will be on sale in the third quarter, the convertible in the fourth.

With the late convertible introduction, it's also likely that warm-weather states initially will see more of them than those in the Snow Belt.

"Initial distribution is based on dealer sales volume and some of our largest dealers are in California, Georgia and Texas," he said.

The convertible, which typically accounts for 50 percent of Corvette sales, will offer a choice of manual or power soft top, the first power soft top since the 1962 model year.

"The power top is an option because a portion of our owner base has been asking for it so they can put the top down or up while at the stoplight. My guess is that it will account for 25 to 35 percent of convertible sales," Baldick said. He added sales are expected to reach about 35,000 units, with about 32,000 of those in the U.S.

But almost no Corvette owners have asked for a power retractable metal hardtop such as that on the Cadillac XLR, which is built alongside Corvette in Bowling Green. The cars share a platform.

"Requests are few and far between because most Corvette buyers are enthusiasts who don't want the added weight of a retractable metal top and don't want a power retractable hardtop to interfere with trunk room," he said.

Coupe and convertible will offer a 6-liter, 400-horsepower V-8.

A higher-performance version will come out for 2006, when a new Z06 is introduced, Baldick said.

Baldick said reaction on the auto-show circuit to the 2005 Corvette has been generally positive.

"A few diehard loyalists would still prefer that we stayed with concealed headlamps," Baldick said, a feature on the Corvette since 1962, but dropped in favor of fixed lamps for 2005.

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