Everything we know about the 2020 C8 Chevy Corvette, officially named ‘Stingray’
July 15, 2019: Motor Authority spotted an easter egg on Chevrolet’s media site mere days before the car’s official reveal, declaring that the mid-engine Corvette will carry on the “Stingray” name. Chevy posted a photo with the caption saying it “is proud to announce the Stingray name will live on.” Before this announcement, there was speculation aplenty about what Chevy might name the C8, with Zora being tossed out more than once. We’re also allowed a peek at the Stingray badge design (below), showing off a slightly different looking water animal. This logo does away with some of the curves present in the C7’s Stingray badge. We like what GM has done with it, and we also like the Stingray name.
July 12, 2019: Chevy officially reveals the C8’s decidedly un-wheel-like steering wheel. We’ve seen it before in spy shots, as you’ll see below, but this is an official look.
July 11, 2019: GM announces the C8 will be attending the Concours d’Elegance of America for its first, big public showing. That Sunday, July 28, will definitely be your best chance to see the car up close and personal, way before the majority of the world gets to. The design seminar on the 27th will be hosted by GM design chief Michael Simcoe, and he’s expected to discuss the design objectives and challenges the team faced when developing the new C8.
July 7, 2019: The C8 is allegedly leaked in a video posted to YouTube. We can’t be sure it’s legit, but it certainly looks plausible. There are similarities between it and the alleged photo of the rear end we saw the day before this. It’s hard to tell due to the overall graininess of the image, but it appears that the venting in the C8’s front bumper may be blacked-out in production vehicles, and despite the unfortunate glare present on this car’s headlights, there may be a dark theme to the car’s lighting elements. This car’s wheels sport a similar dark treatment.
June 13, 2019: A Corvette patent filing shows a “system configured to control aerodynamics of a vehicle” with adjustable elements on various places on the car. There’s also “a mechanism configured to selectively vary the height of the deflector relative to the road surface and a position of the deflector relative to the vehicle body.”
April 30, 2019: Chevy releases a cryptic video with clues about the new Corvette just a day after Chevy paraded it around in front of folks at the National Corvette Museum. The video mixes historic footage of older Corvette logos and models, the latter in near-subliminal brief glimpse edits, and it gives us a look at Zora Arkus-Duntov, the American engineer responsible for infusing the Corvette with its performance bonafides, donning racing goggles and a helmet at the track.
April 11, 2019: A reveal date surfaces. GM announces the C8 will be revealed at a California event on July 18, 2019. Let the anticipation begin.
April 4, 2019: Spy shots give us the best look of the C8’s interior yet. There’s a distinctive two-spoke steering wheel and a digital instrument panel that looks highly customizable. The buttons on the wheel are arranged similarly to other GM vehicles, but they seem to be made from nicer materials and in shapes unique to the Corvette. There are also shift paddles that look to be aluminum. These aren’t too surprising, since it seems the new Corvette may only offer a dual-clutch automatic transmission.
March 23, 2019: A massive dump of information comes to us via an alleged order guide leaking. Check out our original post to get the full low-down on what was involved here.
March 13, 2019: Reports of electrical gremlins and chassis twist splash across the web. The report comes to us via Hagerty, and don’t place the soon-to-come C8 in a favorable light.
December 7, 2018: A new video comes out of GM testing the racecar version of the C8, which we dubbed C8.R. It’s a curious listen, and entirely worth checking out to hear the racing version of the new Corvette sing. As the Corvette laps the Sebring race track in Florida, it makes a high-pitched, urgent V8 noise we’d expect from, say, Ferrari — not Chevrolet. It’s all the more curious when prototypes of the road car have the more traditional deep burble and rumble we would expect of a Corvette.
September 17, 2018: New spy shots give us the coolest look yet at the C8 in motion. Our photographers caught the Corvette catching big air around the Nurburgring in track testing. At this point, the C8 Corvette has shed its loose-fitting camouflage, leaving only a black-and-white wrap to hide details. Although the engine has shifted behind the driver, the overall proportions haven’t changed too much. The front end appears longer than some other mid-engine cars. The front intakes resemble those on the new Corvette ZR1, while the rear is fitted with taillights that resemble the current Stingray.
May 3, 2018: Public testing has begun at this point for the C8, as our spy shooters caught the heavily camouflaged car out testing beyond GM’s private facilities. Ever since we’ve been seeing them out testing more and more. These spy shots show the car out testing along with a Porsche 911 Carrera S and two C7 Corvettes. The one behind the 911 appears to be a Z06, and a ZR1 can be spotted in the background of another photo.
December 14, 2017: CAD renderings give us an idea of things to come with the mid-engine Corvette. They’re rather believable and likely drawings that were leaked to the public. The images appear to show the car’s sub-structure and engine, giving us our first look under the skin. We can’t confirm if these are real, but someone would have to go through a hell of a lot of effort to fake this.
July 31, 2017: These spy photos were a particularly fun bunch, as the folks testing quickly realize the camera is in the area. They quickly run out and cover up the test vehicle before any more is revealed. There’s still no official word that this car exists, so all we can do is write these reports, post more photos, and report on the trickle of info emerging slowly from GM.
September 15, 2016: Car and Driver reports that the mid-engine Corvette will have a Tremec-sourced dual-clutch transmission. The story goes: Tremec bought Belgian supplier Hoerbiger Drivetrain Mechatronics four years ago to acquire its expertise instead of developing the technology in-house. The results are the 7-speed TR-7007 and TR-9007 transmissions. The TR-9007 is rated for 664 pound-feet of torque, suggesting big power from whatever engine sit behind the seats in this car. C/D theorizes that there won’t be a manual transmission, so pour one out for another lost clutch pedal. For the detailed list of gear ratios Tremec offers out of the box, click here and speculate away. An automaker can specify any ratio for each gear, so if and when we see the mid-engine car the numbers could be different.
September 13, 2016: We sum up some rumors about the mid-engine car. TL;DR: The pushrod will probably go the way of Zima and be replaced by a DOHC V8, Bowling Green’s expensive new paint line and other factory upgrades probably involve mid-engine production, some people think the mid-engine car is a Cadillac or that Corvette will be a standalone brand.
September 12, 2016: It’s real! After years of speculation, the mid-2019 Chevy Corvette has been caught during covert testing in Michigan. We’ve seen shots of this ghostly Vette in C7 bodies, but this is the first time we’ve captured it with a clear view of what appears to be an engine mounted amidships.
Codenamed the Emperor, according to the Detroit News, this Corvette will reposition Chevy’s iconic sportscar to compete with European exotics and the Ford GT. The newspaper reports a front-engine Vette will still be sold concurrently for a few years after the launch of its more exotic sibling. We’ve previously spied what seems to be a high-performance front-engine Corvette which we presume is the revived ZR1.
It’s unclear what exactly the mid-engine Corvette will be, though we expect an intense focus on weight savings, aerodynamics, and use of materials like carbon fiber. Engine speculation has included a twin-turbo V6 and/or a more traditional V8. General Motors also has a 10-speed automatic transmission developed with Ford in its arsenal that’s launching in the Chevy Camaro ZL1.
Reportedly, the mid-engine Corvette was being developed nearly a decade ago, but was delayed due to GM’s bankruptcy in 2009. With GM’s now-healthy balance sheet, the mid-engine Corvette appears to be fully revved for 2019.
August 4, 2016: The mid-engine Corvette has a code name, Emperor, and will debut in 2018 as a 2019 model according to the Detroit News. The front-engine Corvette will linger on until 2021, according to the report.
June 27, 2016: We grab blurry spy photos of a car looking closer to production sheet metal, spotted on GM’s Milford Proving Grounds.
January 16, 2016: In an interview with Road & Track, Bob Lutz talks about the reasoning behind a mid-engine Corvette and talks about how far the program progressed before getting shelved.
January 8, 2015: The first spy photos emerge of a mid-engine Corvette test mule, looking like a Holden Ute with a bed cover on it, the car is clearly not a Vettecamino.
