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Just how similar is the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Convertible to its coupe brother? The two share so much Chevy didn’t even issue a new press release when they quietly revealed the car at the 2016 New York Auto Show. It just added a one-paragraph update to the bottom of the ZL1 Coupe announcement and re-released that.
So you can expect the ZL1 Convertible, which arrives in showrooms next year, to come with the same long list of appealing performance features as the hardtop version: 640 horsepower from a supercharged V8, the choice of a six-speed manual or 10-speed automatic, electronic LSD; magnetic ride suspension, Recaro seats, carbon-fiber hood insert, and a dual-mode exhaust that looks like the business end of a jazz band. (Feel free to revisit our story about the ZL1 Coupe if you need further reminding.)
Honestly, the biggest difference between these two cars isn’t mechanical or electronic—it’s the likely buyer. We can easily see the ZL1 coupe being snapped up by bargain-minded performance nuts who love the idea of a steeply discounted Z06 with two extra seats—guys and gals who spend their evenings trying in vain to convince their spouse that a used Porsche 911 Carrera 4S would totally be a responsible purchase at this point in life. People like us at The Drive, basically.
The ZL1 Convertible, though…nobody’s taking that thing to the track. It’s made for blitzing through stoplights, ripping off donuts in empty parking lots, and cruising down the street with Bon Jovi blasting, top down so everyone can see your Jesus chains and bicep tattoos. All noble pursuits. But they’re also accompanied equally well in a non-LT4-powered Camaro SS convertible. Hell, the new Camaro V6 is so good, you could probably even pull it off in that car. To see all that incredible ZL1 performance hardware installed in a car that will be used almost exclusively for, as the kids say in the ‘hood, flossin’…well, it’s kind of a shame.
That said, we still want to drive the wheels off the thing.
