Concerns over GM's decision to finally approve a mid-engined Corvette should be gone forever. Buyers have spoken. Not only is the C8 Chevy Corvette Stingray Coupe a smash hit with a waiting list, but so is the convertible version. In fact, sales for the drop top haven't been this strong since 1969. That's more than half a century.

This information comes by way of Corvette Blogger who spoke to Corvette Product Manager Harlan Charles during the National Corvette Museum's Bash Event last week. For 2021, a total of 19,362 Corvettes have been ordered, including units that have already been built and those which haven't yet.

This isn't the final model year production number, which is expected to climb a couple of thousand units before the 2022 model year change over in the summer. Right now, the convertible accounts for 41 percent of all 2021 orders. Coupes consist of 59 percent. Do the math and that's around 7,938 convertibles and 11,423 coupes.

Now, here's where it gets even more interesting: 52 percent of convertible buyers are opting for the 3LT top model compared to 33 percent for the coupe. The 2LT has been the most popular coupe model (47 percent) so far this year. The remaining convertible customers are opting for the 2LT and base 1LT at 40 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

In other words, convertible buyers are going all-out with the options and that's great news for Chevy's bottom line. An impressive 35 percent of convertible shoppers have been customizing the roof and nacelles with the Carbon Flash Roof/Nacelles option.

The convertible's success is a cause for celebration because these sales figures haven't looked this good since the '69 Stingray Convertible when 43 percent of customers purchased it instead of the T-Top Coupe. Even when the convertible was re-introduced with the C4 generation in 1986 it accounted for just 21 percent of orders. Jump ahead to the C5 convertible in 1998, the sales figure was 38 percent. The C7 convertible's debut in 2014? Only 29 percent.