C8 Corvette Production Resumes After Temporary Stop Over "Supply Shortage”
19 Oct 2020, 21:19 UTC ·
by
Mircea Panait
Not that long ago, Finch Chevrolet sales consultant Morgan Crosbie said that Corvette production would grind to a temporary halt. Fast-forward to the present day, and the Bowling Green plant has resumed production of the mid-engine sports car.
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Morgan highlights at the 6:10 mark of the following video that 800 to 850 cars are rolling off the line weekly, and the 2020 model year has been extended into December. The sales consultant also said that “there’s a huge waiting list” for the 2021 Corvette, which is going to cost a little more if you plan to get the Z51 pack.
“We got tons of people lined up for 2022,” added Morgan, and “we've started to take deposits for the anniversary editions in 2023.” There’s no mistaking that C8 hype is at an all-time high, and we’ve not even been presented with the high-revving Z06 yet.
Chevrolet is expected to unveil the first performance-oriented C8 in the lineup next year for 2022, and as you already know, the biggest secret of the Z06 is the engine. A flat-plane crankshaft V8 with 5.5 liters of displacement is the culprit. Codenamed LT6, this engine is based on the LT5 that Corvette Racing runs in the screamin’ C8.R.
Rumored with no fewer than three wing options, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 high-performance tires, and carbon-fiber wheels, the Z06 will rev higher than 8,000 rpm. It remains to be seen if Chevy will match the Voodoo V8 of the Shelby GT350, though, a 5.2-liter powerplant that keeps spinning until the tacho reaches 8,250 rpm.
After that, the E-Ray is expected as a 2023 model to replace the Grand Sport with a hybridized small-block V8. In addition to the 6.2-liter engine of the Stingray, the first-ever Corvette with a hybrid powertrain is also rumored to be the first-ever Corvette with AWD thanks to a pair of “electric motors in place of the front trunk.”
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