Most motoring enthusiasts were ecstatic after the debut of the latest Corvette. What’s not to love about 1,250 horsepower from a 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 paired with a front-axle electric motor? In fact, many believed it would be the ultimate expression of the C8 Corvette, never to be topped.
That’s why it was rumored to be named Zora after the iconic sports car’s originator. But when the car debuted with the name ZR1X, we were all a bit confused. It sounded more like a simple variant of the ZR1 than the King of all Corvettes. Now we know why. The ZR1X will not be the final Corvette C8.
Corvette chief engineer Tony Roma confirmed as much to Top Gear in a recent interview, saying, “The backbone we’ve built into the C8 is proving to be super capable. The things we’ve learned from creating the various models so far and the opportunities we have in the future with this chassis are incredible. The ZR1X is not the end of the story; it’s just the latest chapter. The team that works on it has a very ‘what can we do, and how can we do it?’ attitude. They see possibilities and not challenges.”
What Corvette Could Be Coming Next?
We actually called this. Our own William Clavey wrote shortly after the debut of the ZR1X about his disappointment with the car’s name, arguing it lacked the drama and gravitas that a Corvette such as this deserved. While he acknowledged the Zora name was strictly an invention of the Internet and not used internally by anyone at Chevrolet, he still believed there was more to come that would deserve such a sacred moniker.
Now, the car’s chief engineer has confirmed Clavey’s suspicion. Not only that, but Roma’s own words seem to leave the door open for multiple new Corvette variants. But where else can the car go when the ZR1X is already such a monster? The most obvious answer is all-electric. Joel Feder from The Drive reminded us that General Motors President Mark Reuss confirmed back in 2022 that an all-electric version of the Corvette would follow the electrified version that became the E-Ray. Three years later, nothing. Another Corvette engineer was asked by Motor1 about an electric Corvette at the premiere of the ZR1X and responded, “I never say never.”
A Corvette EV isn’t the only thing that could be cooking, though. We’ve written many times about the possibility of a C8 Corvette SUV, likening it to a Lamborghini Urus-killer. We live in a time when even Ferrari has an SUV and Ford is selling an electric SUV version of the Mustang; a Corvette SUV seems quite rational in comparison. And generally speaking, performance SUVs sell well even if purists hate them. Just ask the Porsche faithful who railed against the Cayenne when it first came out, but have that SUV to thank for their favorite brand surviving the last two decades.
An SUV, though, couldn’t use the C8 Corvette’s mid-engine platform. What may be more likely is an off-road Corvette in the style of the Porsche 911 Dakar and Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato. Unlike an electric Corvette or SUV, though, such a car is pure speculation; we have no evidence to share indicating Chevrolet is working on an off-road Corvette. We just hope it is because that would be awesome.
TopSpeed’s Take
Now that we know the ZR1X is not the final boss of Corvettes, our attention can turn towards figuring out what’s left in the product pipeline for this iconic American supercar. Electric? SUV? Off-road? Something else entirely? No one knows until some tangible evidence pops up. It will likely come in the form of another quote from an executive or engineer, or possibly a spy photo of a mule testing. Either way, that information will be carefully crafted and disseminated by Chevrolet at a time and place of its choosing.
We likely won’t have to wait long for the next Corvette, anyway. The C8 Corvette Stingray debuted as a 2020 model, the Z06 a 2023 model, the E-Ray a 2024 model, the ZR1 a 2025 model, and the ZR1X a 2026 model. We’ve been getting new Corvette models about every 1.2 model years since 2020. Based on that logic, the next one should arrive for the 2028 model year and make its public debut in 2027. Just two more years to go.
Read the full article here
