The 2020 Corvette

The Overview

The 2020 Corvette was the car Zora Arkus-Duntov had wanted since the 1960 CERV I: a production Corvette with its engine behind the driver. Chevrolet revealed it in a hangar at Tustin, California on July 18, 2019 as a Stingray coupe with a removable roof panel, then the retractable-hardtop convertible and the C8.R race car at the Kennedy Space Center on October 2, 2019. The 6.2-liter LT2, a dry-sump development of the C7’s LT1, made 490 horsepower (495 with the NPP exhaust that 18,174 of the cars had) and drove the rear wheels through the Corvette’s first dual-clutch gearbox, an eight-speed Tremec; there was no manual, and the Z51 package that 76 percent of buyers took brought bigger brakes, a 5.17 axle, an electronic limited-slip differential, the exhaust and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires for 2.9 seconds to 60 mph and 11.2-second quarter miles.

The model year was the strangest the plant had seen. The 40-day UAW strike of the fall of 2019 pushed the start of production to February 3, 2020; Chevrolet closed 2020 ordering on March 18 with far more orders than it could build; the plant shut for the pandemic from March 20 to May 26 with about 230 cars wrapped in plastic on the line; convertible production began on August 7; a second shift came on in September; and the last 2020 Corvette, a Sebring Orange convertible, was built on December 7, 2020 with the 2021 run starting behind it. GM’s count was 20,368 cars — 16,787 coupes and 3,581 convertibles, 9,456 of them 3LTs — at $59,995 for the coupe and $67,495 for the convertible including the $1,095 destination charge, prices that stayed flat for the 2021.

The car collected MotorTrend’s Car of the Year (November 2019), a Car and Driver 10Best spot and North American Car of the Year (January 13, 2020); VIN 001 brought $3 million from Rick Hendrick at Barrett-Jackson on January 18, 2020; a Torch Red Z51 coupe paced the spectator-less Indianapolis 500 on August 23, 2020 with Mark Reuss driving; and the C8.R, debuting at Daytona in January, won six of the ten races after the pandemic restart and took the IMSA GTLM drivers’, team and manufacturers’ championships with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 — the first season since 1999 without a trip to Le Mans.

The 2020 Corvette Story

Introduction

Chevrolet revealed the eighth-generation Corvette, the first mid-engine production Corvette, in a hangar at the former Marine Corps air station in Tustin, California on July 18, 2019: the 495-horsepower LT2 behind the seats, a dual-clutch gearbox and no manual, 2.9 seconds to 60 mph with the Z51 package, and a starting price of $59,995 that Mark Reuss announced on stage to a standing ovation. The first model year then arrived during an unprecedented time: it coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought the world’s economies to a halt within a few months of its arrival and, with them, production of the 2020 Stingray.

Production had already slipped to February 2020: the United Auto Workers’ forty-day strike against General Motors (September 16 – October 25, 2019) stopped the Bowling Green plant’s retooling for the mid-engine car, the last C7s were not finished until November 15, 2019, and the first customer deliveries GM had promised for the end of 2019 could not happen.

Would-be owners, many of whom had pre-ordered their cars after putting down sizable deposits to do so, waited patiently for the strike to end and for GM workers to return to work.

On February 3, 2020, Chevrolet officially began production of the mid-engine Corvette in Bowling Green. Chevrolet marked the occasion with a tweet from the plant.

After months of delays, the automotive world breathed a collective sigh of relief at the announcement. Once more, enthusiasts and would-be owners alike began clamoring for their opportunity to see a production version of the new Corvette at their local Chevrolet dealership and out on the open road. Early buyers began receiving shipment dates letting them know when they should expect their Corvette to arrive at their local dealerships. It seemed as though a production model, mid-engine Corvette was finally about to become a reality after more than a half-century of waiting and wishful thinking. The iconic rebirth of America's Favorite Sports Car was actually happening.

Just over a month later the run was cut short. On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, General Motors made the following announcement:

Due to an overwhelming demand for the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Chevrolet has decided to stop taking sold orders after March 18, 2020, a GM spokesperson said. Chevrolet dealers will begin taking orders for the 2021 Corvette in late May.

The announcement was made after Autoblog.com had discovered a post on Corvette Forum earlier that same day that showed a screenshot of an apparent email sent to Corvette dealerships, instructing them to suspend future 2020 Mid-Engine Corvette orders beginning later that day. The email cited the weeks-long UAW strike that had occurred in late 2019, and stated that 2021 Corvette orders would open earlier than planned so that dealers and customers could “create a replacement order.”

Two days later, on March 20, 2020, the Bowling Green plant closed with the rest of GM’s North American operations for what was billed as a two-week pandemic shutdown; it lasted nine weeks, with about 230 part-built cars wrapped in plastic on the line and, by plant manager Kai Spande’s count, only about 2,700 2020 Corvettes finished. There was talk in the spring that the 2020 model year would be abandoned for the 2021. Instead, the plant reopened on May 26, 2020 with about 550 first-shift workers, and GM confirmed that every 2020 order already in its system would be built.

In June 2020 Corvette Blogger reported that the Stingray convertible, the first Corvette with a retractable hardtop, would begin production in August, and on August 7, 2020 the first customer convertibles were built in Bowling Green (the plant had built convertibles for GM’s captured test fleet since July). GM also said that it would not skip the rest of the 2020 model year, as had been rumored in the spring: every 2020 order already in the system would be built, and the 2021 Stingray was pushed back first to November and in the end to December.

On September 1, 2020, Chevrolet increased production at their Bowling Green assembly plant, adding a second shift to the schedule. The second shift began as a rumor, propagated online with video of the plant’s employee parking lot full at 11:30 p.m. Additionally, a private C8 Corvette Owners Facebook group began reporting that Chevrolet was running a second shift at the Bowling Green plant and also began publishing vehicle production numbers - including a report that stated on September 1, 2020, (the Bowling Green Assembly Plant) built 140 Corvettes. The day before, the factory had produced 99 cars.

Even on two shifts the plant could not build every order placed before March 18, and in September Chevrolet set a target of just over 20,000 cars for the 2020 model year. It got there: the plant passed sequence number 15,000 at the end of October, building about 880 cars a week, and the last 2020 Corvette, a Sebring Orange convertible wearing sequence number 19456, came off the line on December 7, 2020, the Monday after the last full day of production, and the 2021 model year began as soon as it was gone. GM’s final count, which includes the saleable pre-production cars built before February, was 20,368: 16,787 coupes and 3,581 convertibles.

The 2020 Mid-Engine Corvette Stingray

Even with such a controversial and ever-changing narrative behind its inaugural year of production, there is little doubt in anyone's mind that the 2020 Mid-Engine C8 is one of the best Corvettes ever produced by Chevrolet. Demand for the C8 outran that for any Corvette of the previous twenty-five years, and the car reached buyers in their twenties and thirties in a way no earlier Corvette had.

“Corvette has always represented the pinnacle of innovation and boundary-pushing at GM. The traditional front-engine vehicle reached its limits of performance, necessitating the new layout,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “In terms of comfort and fun, it still looks and feels like a Corvette, but drives better than any vehicle in Corvette history. Customers are going to be thrilled with our focus on details and performance across the board.”

While most people would agree that the new 2020 Mid-Engine Corvette is aesthetically stunning to look at, its design follows the decades-old mantra of form follows function that GM engineers have lived by as they developed each earlier iteration of America's Favorite Sports Car. When looking at a C8 Corvette, there are features that immediately stand out to any observer - the shortened front hood, the massive air ducts just behind the driver and passenger doors, the unique-yet-somehow-familiar wedge-shape design, and of course, the familiar - yet reimagined - crossed flag badging that proudly identifies every Corvette that has ever been produced.

“As America’s most iconic performance nameplate, redesigning the Corvette Stingray from the ground up presented the team a historic opportunity, something Chevrolet designers have desired for over 60 years,” said Michael Simcoe, vice president of Global Design, General Motors. “It is now the best of America, a new arrival in the mid-engine sports car class. We know Corvette can stand tall with the best the world has to offer.”

But what, exactly, is the benefit of building a mid-engine variant of the Corvette? After all, Corvette did just fine, both on the track and the open road, with its traditional front-engine/rear-wheel-drive configuration for more than a half-century. The answers, once you see them, are pretty obvious.

The new mid-engine layout gives the 2020 Stingray:

Better weight distribution, with the rear weight bias enhancing performance in a straight line and on the track; Better responsiveness and sense of control due to driver positioning closer to the front axle, sitting almost on top of the front wheels; The fastest 0-60 time of any entry Corvette ever — under three seconds when equipped with the Z51 Performance Package; A racecar-like view of the road due to the lower positioning of the hood, instrument panel, and steering wheel. Excellent forward sightlines throughout the vehicle for both the driver and passenger; An enhancement of Corvette’s traditional utility, with two trunks for a total of 12.6 cubic feet of cargo volume, enough for luggage or two sets of golf clubs (GM’s own measure).

Exterior

The exterior of the 2020 Mid-Engine Stingray took everything good from the sixth- and seventh-generation Corvettes and incorporated those elements into an entirely new design that is both bold and futuristic-looking in its design. The new 2020 Corvette was sleek, refined, lean-yet-muscular, with an overall aesthetic that communicates speed and performance at every angle. In addition to its appearance, the C8 Corvette featured a supercar level of craftsmanship, utilizing more premium materials than any other Corvette that came before it. The car featured a number of uniquely realized touchpoints that exude the grandeur of the car's design along with the strong focus on detail that was put into the placement of every component on the car.

The exterior of the 2020 Mid-Engine Corvette featured design cues that were unlike anything that had come before it. These included:

Low profile headlamps designed around all-new projectors; Completely hidden door, hood, and hatch releases do not disrupt the sculpted design; Large side air intakes for engine cooling and aerodynamic performance; A-pillar shape that communicates speed and assists in providing the driver with greater visibility; A large, rear hatch that showcases the engine with seven air vents; Quad exhaust tips located on the vehicle’s outboard end; Dual-element LED taillamps with animated turn signals.

The 2020 Mid-Engine Corvette Stingray could be ordered in one of twelve exterior color choices, which included: Torch Red, Arctic White, Black, Blade Silver Metallic, Shadow Gray, Ceramic Matrix Gray, Long Beach Red, Elkhart Lake Blue and Sebring Orange — plus three all-new colors: Rapid Blue, Zeus Bronze and Accelerate Yellow.

Interior

Developed under chief engineer Tadge Juechter and design director Tom Peters, many of the design elements incorporated into the mid-engine Corvette were inspired by some of the most advanced fighter jets in today's armed forces. Additionally, the design team also turned to earlier iterations of the Corvette for signature elements that would give the Stingray a distinctive look that celebrated the history of the brand while also giving the car a bold new stance. While the exterior of the car was an evolution of the Corvettes that came before it, the interior of the new 2020 Stingray was completely reimagined.

The 2020 Corvette Stingray's cockpit is a significant departure from the C7. First, the cockpit was migrated forward by 16.5 inches, due in large part to the relocation of the engine to behind the driver. The cockpit was carefully crafted to envelop the driver. Much like the cockpit of the seventh-generation Corvettes, the C8 has more of a wrap-around cockpit that puts everything comfortably in-reach of the driver. A lot of attention was paid to the placement of the controls within the cockpit of the car to maximize driver visibility. Everything, from the vertically-mounted climate controls and transmission selector buttons to the ultra-thin temperature vents were selected to minimize the height of the instrument panel, providing the car's occupants with a spacious interior.

All of the materials selected for the interior of the 2020 Corvette Stingray boast a high level of quality and craftsmanship. The car features a new, squared-off, small-diameter steering wheel that enables an unobstructed view of the 12-inch instrument cluster display. Like the C7, the C8 features a mostly digital dashboard that can be adjusted for various driving conditions based on driver selection. The steering wheel itself is hand-wrapped in leather with thick-press stitching. Unlike earlier Corvettes, which had mostly plastic trim, the 2020 C8 Corvette features a lot of real-metal trim pieces within the cockpit, including stainless steel speaker grilles mounted over the Bose Performance Series audio system. Like the other materials selected for the cockpit, these metal components - either real aluminum or carbon fiber - add to the quality and overall aesthetic of the cockpit.

The seats, along with the rest of the interior, come finished in one of six interior color themes. These include:

Jet Black; Sky Cool Gray; Adrenaline Red; Natural/Natural Dipped; Two-Tone Blue; Morello Red.

The interior features carbon-fiber trim on both the GT2 and Competition seats. As for the seats themselves, the 2020 Corvette was offered with three different seat options at the time of purchase. These included:

GT1 Seats - a sporty seat that emphasized comfort while also providing good support to the driver during performance driving conditions. The GT1 seats came finished in Mulan leather trim and included optional lumbar support and side-wing adjustments; GT2 Seats - New for the 2020 Corvette, the GT2 seats featured a racing-inspired look with comfort for long trips courtesy of dual-density foam. As mentioned above, these seats included carbon-fiber trim, a Napa leather insert, Mulan leather bolsters, a jet black-painted seat back, two-way lumbar support and wing adjustment, plus heating and ventilation; Competition Seats - These seats were designed for the serious track-focused driver. They featured aggressive side bolsters, full Napa seating surfaces and carbon-fiber trim on the headrest. Each of these seats also featured built-in heating and cooling, along with an all-new durable performance textile material similar to the materials found in kevlar vests.

Regardless of seat and interior color selection, every 2020 Corvette also included six seatbelt color choices. Unlike earlier iterations of the Corvette, which matched seatbelt selection to the color of the seats, the 2020 Corvette allowed owners to select seatbelt colors based on personal preference. Buyers could choose black, blue, tan, red, yellow or orange seat belts and pair them with any seat and interior color (12,873 cars kept black belts; 3,621 took red, 1,291 tan, 1,133 blue, 749 yellow and 701 orange, $395 each). For consumers looking to add even more customization to the interior of their C8 Corvettes, the 2020 model also offered consumers two optional stitch packages. These alternate stitch colors - yellow and red - could be selected and used for final assembly of stitching on the seats, dashboard and interior trim pieces.

Beneath the Hood - the Jewel In the Center

While the evolution of the C8 is an appreciable departure from other Corvettes, there is at least one element of the C8 that represents the earlier iterations of the Corvettes that came before it - the engine.

The 2020 Stingray carries Chevrolet’s next-generation 6.2-liter naturally aspirated small-block, the LT2: 490 horsepower and 465 lb-ft as standard, 495 horsepower (369 kW) at 6,450 rpm and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm) at 5,150 rpm with the $1,195 NPP performance exhaust that 18,174 of the 20,368 cars had. So equipped, the base coupe and convertible had more power and torque than any entry-level Corvette in the brand’s sixty-seven years.

“Though now placed behind the driver, the LT2 gives the same visceral experience we all expect from Corvette,” said Jordan Lee, GM’s global chief engineer of Small Block engines. “The LT2 has been designed to deliver excellent low-end torque and high-end power to give thrilling pedal response at any RPM.”

When selecting the powertrain for the 2020 Corvette, it was vital that the placement of the engine (and transmission) were as low in the car's chassis as possible. This was done to ensure an overall lower center of gravity for optimal handling. To enable engine fitment behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle, Corvette engineers had to be clever in the placement of the engine's lubrication system. For the first time ever, the base Stingray featured an engine-mounted dry-sump oil system with three scavenge pumps for improved track performance. Previously, this type of lubrication system could only be found on higher-end iterations of the Corvette - such as the Z06 and the ZR1 models. Because the Stingray would be driven on track, the engine team wanted oil volumes to stay high during serious track driving conditions, and so the LT2's dry-sump lubrication system had to be redesigned to provide exceptional engine performance even at lateral acceleration levels exceeding 1G in all directions.

With the engine placement towards the rear of the car, Corvette engineers also recognized the importance of showcasing the engine as the center jewel of the new Stingray. Like Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren, the new Stingray now featured a lightweight, 3.2mm-thick glass panel on the rear hatch of the car that allowed owners to showcase the car's engine. This panel featured a cantilevered trailing edge that was designed to evacuate heat from the LT2’s engine compartment. Every component, including the exhaust system's wiring, tubes, routine fasteners, coolant hoses, exhaust manifold - even the bolts and fasteners used throughout - were selected and installed with the appearance in mind. Every engine component was given careful consideration just like the car's exterior. Even the engine heat shields were specially textured.

Only an Automatic?

For the first time in the Corvette’s history there was no manual transmission. Chevrolet’s reasoning was simple: a dual-clutch shifts faster and more consistently than any driver, and the take rate for the C7’s seven-speed had fallen to about a fifth of production.

The LT2 was paired to the Corvette’s first dual-clutch transmission, the eight-speed Tremec TR-9080 (RPO M1L), which gave customers with lightning-fast shifts and excellent power transfer from the engine to the rear wheels. The transmission was specifically designed for the C8 Corvette in cooperation with TREMEC with the intent of providing C8 owners with the convenience and luxury of an automatic transmission that still offered those drivers that wanted it a more spirited, directly-connected feeling of a manual transmission.

The 8-speed automatic transmission still allowed drivers to have appreciable control over their vehicles. Paddle shifters mounted on either side of the steering wheel allowed owners the option to control shift points and select specific gears during vehicle operation. Additionally, the new Stingray offered consumers a “double-paddle de-clutch” feature that let drivers to disengage the clutch by holding both paddles down at the same time.

“The performance shift algorithms are so driver-focused, they can sense when you’re doing spirited driving — regardless of driving mode — and will hold lower gears longer for more throttle response,” said Juechter.

Corvette engineers set up the dual-clutch transmission (DCT) with a very low first gear (2.91:1) to leverage the additional traction needed to get the car off the line quickly, while the close-ratio second through sixth gears keep the engine near the peak of its powerband while operating wide open on the track. The tall seventh and eighth gears were added for low RPM, long-distance cruising. These additional gears produced low mechanical stress on the engine and resulted in excellent fuel economy, despite the large displacement, high-horsepower engine at the heart of this car. The DCT was mated to a new Electronic Transmission Range Selector. With this electric shifter installed, there exists no mechanical interface between the shift lever and the transmission. The C8 Corvette’s electric shifter incorporated two pull toggles for Reverse and Drive and push buttons for Park, Neutral and Low/Manual. The shifter was designed to be more attractive and compact than a standard shifter.

When operating this Corvette, the driver has the option of selecting one of six drive modes to tweak the drivability of their Corvettes to their personal preference. As with earlier iterations of the Corvette, the same, familiar Weather, Tour, Sport, and Track modes returned in the 2020 Corvette, while two new modes were introduced:

MyMode - This drive mode featured a configurable setting for a preferred driving style that can remain between key cycles; Z Mode - This drive mode was named after the famed Z06, ZR1 and Z51 Corvette performance packages. It is activated through a “Z” button on the steering wheel. This is a single-use mode that took MyMode configurations one step further, allowing drivers to adjust the operation and shift points of the engine and transmission as well.

C8 Corvette By the Numbers

Chevrolet built 20,368 2020 Corvettes: 16,787 coupes (82.4 percent) and 3,581 convertibles. 15,476 of them (76 percent) had the $5,000 Z51 Performance Package, 10,991 the Magnetic Ride that came only with it, 11,899 the front lift, 12,548 the GT2 seats and 18,174 the performance exhaust. The equipment groups ran the other way from the C7’s: 2,946 cars were 1LTs, 7,966 2LTs and 9,456 (46.4 percent) the $11,950 3LT. 18,577 went to U.S. buyers, 1,490 to Canada, 162 to the Middle East and 139 to Mexico, and 943 owners took delivery at the National Corvette Museum across the road from the plant.

The coupe listed at $58,900 and the convertible at $66,400 before the $1,095 destination charge, $59,995 and $67,495 delivered, with 2LT $7,300 and 3LT $11,950 on top for the coupe ($6,800 and $11,450 on the convertible, which listed at $74,295 and $78,945) and Z51 $5,000, so a loaded 3LT Z51 convertible passed $100,000. With only a fraction of the orders built, 2020 Corvettes changed hands well above sticker through the fall of 2020: a 686-mile Torch Red coupe brought $137,500 at Barrett-Jackson’s October 2020 Scottsdale sale, then a record for a C8, and a Shadow Gray 3LT raised $370,000 for charity at the same auction. The premium lasted until the 2022 model year caught up with demand; by 2026 ordinary 2020 cars sell for $55,000 to $70,000.

The convertible and the C8.R, revealed together

On October 2, 2019, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Chevrolet revealed the 2020 Stingray convertible and the C8.R race car side by side. The convertible was the first Corvette with a retractable hardtop: two body-color (or Carbon Flash) panels and a glass rear window that six electric motors fold under a tonneau behind the engine in sixteen seconds at up to 30 mph, with the power-adjustable rear window usable on its own, a divider that keeps the engine’s heat out of the cabin and a curb weight of 3,637 pounds, 102 more than the 3,535-pound coupe. It cost $67,495 delivered as a 1LT, $74,295 as a 2LT and $78,945 as a 3LT ($7,500 and $7,000 over the coupe), and Bowling Green built 3,581 of them from August 7, 2020, 2,730 with Z51 and 1,162 with the $1,295 Carbon Flash roof and nacelles. The C8.R, developed alongside the road car on the same Bowling Green aluminum structure, used a 5.5-liter flat-plane-crank V-8 making 500 horsepower and 480 lb-ft under IMSA’s rules, an Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox and the first silver Corvette Racing livery, on the No. 4, alongside the yellow No. 3.

VIN 001, the awards and the Indianapolis 500

The first retail 2020 Corvette, VIN 001, was auctioned by Barrett-Jackson at Scottsdale on January 18, 2020 and brought $3 million from Rick Hendrick, who had bought the first 2019 ZR1 and the first 2014 Stingray the same way; the car, a black 3LT Z51 coupe with red belts and GT2 seats, was built later in the year and the money went to the Detroit Children’s Fund. The awards had already arrived: MotorTrend named the Stingray its 2020 Car of the Year on November 19, 2019, Car and Driver put it on its 10Best list, and on January 13, 2020 it won North American Car of the Year, the second Corvette to do so after the 2014 Stingray. On August 23, 2020 a Torch Red Z51 coupe with the accessory high wing and ground effects paced the 104th Indianapolis 500, the seventeenth Corvette to pace the race and the first mid-engine one, driven by GM president Mark Reuss before empty grandstands: the race had been moved from May to August by the pandemic and run without spectators.

Racing: the C8.R’s first season

The C8.R made its debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 25–26, 2020, twenty-two years after the C5-R had debuted there, and finished fourth and seventh in GTLM, the No. 3 of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg covering 2,794.6 miles, farther than any Corvette had gone in the race. When IMSA resumed after the pandemic break the car won six of the next ten races: Garcia and Taylor took the WeatherTech 240 at Daytona on July 4, 2020, Corvette Racing’s 100th IMSA victory and the first for a mid-engine Corvette, then Road America, Virginia International Raceway (a 1–2 with the No. 4), Mid-Ohio and the Charlotte Roval, while Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won the No. 4’s only race at Sebring on July 18. Garcia and Taylor clinched the GTLM drivers’ championship with second place at Laguna Seca on November 1, the No. 3 took the team title and Chevrolet the manufacturers’ title, and Gavin and Milner finished third in the points; both cars were slowed by suspension failures in the season-ending 12 Hours of Sebring on November 14. It was the first year since 1999 that Corvette Racing did not go to Le Mans, the pandemic having kept the team home.