Move Aside Jorts & New Balances: C8 Corvette #1 Sports Car For Buyers Under 35

You may recall just over a year ago when AI-generated photos circled around the Internet, depicting Corvette owners as old and outdated with their jorts and New Balance shoes (we did a funny piece here). The pictures were so lifelike that many thought they were real. Below is one of my favorites. [Author’s Note: This article is FREE and not behind a paywall. If/when any popups occur, please click to make them disappear and continue enjoying the article.]

Could this be you?

Just how old is the typical Corvette owner?

Now that 176,000 plus C8 Corvettes have rolled out of Bowling Green, how has the cutting-edge, exotic-like design of the eighth-generation Corvette helped lower the average age of owners? Here is a quick snapshot of where we were before the new demographic figures were just announced.

• Many thought the revolutionary design of the C7 would help bring in the younger generation (and it did to some degree), but the average Corvette customer’s age in 2019 had still climbed to 61 years old.
• Heading into C8 production, individuals between 25 and 40 only accounted for 3% of sales.
• By early 2021, GM said the number of C8 Corvettes sold to Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) had doubled over the C7.

Where We Are In Late 2024

In short, I would say mission accomplished. It’s widely known in the Corvette circles that GM needed to get a younger demographic into the iconic Corvette, and I think we can officially say that the gamble to move away from traditional Corvette styling elements (and engine configuration) has paid off.