First Aussie-spec Chevrolet Corvette arrives

Australia’s first factory right-hand drive Chevrolet Corvette has landed Down Under, General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) announced today.

But the 250 Aussies who have made the first global Corvette a sell-out success in Australia will have to keep waiting until at least late 2021 for delivery.

That’s because the only RHD C8 Corvette to arrive here so far – a Torch Red 3LT Convertible – will be registered in Victoria and retained by GMSV for local engineering validation work.

GMSV already has a LHD C8 Corvette in Australia for promotional purposes and will stage a local launch for the mid-engined supercar ahead of first customer deliveries by the end of this year.

GMSV opened the official order book for its five-variant MY22 Corvette coupe and convertible range in early June, after announcing pricing in March.

Pricing starts at $144,990 plus on-road costs for the 2LT Coupe and $159,990 for the 2LT Convertible, with higher-spec 3LT variants costing $15,510 extra.

carsales understands each of GMSV’s 54 dealers were allocated fewer than five Corvettes from the initial batch, with a limited range of paint colours.

In addition, each GMSV dealer was allocated one example of a 3LT Coupe-based Carbon Edition variant fitted with a host of options available in the US, created exclusively for Australia and New Zealand and priced at $189,990 plus ORCs.

Then it emerged that drive-away prices for the new Corvette could start as high as $188,000 following news that at least one GMSV dealer was charging an additional $43,000 in delivery fees.

Despite that, GMSV confirmed in July that all 250 examples in the initial batch of C8s destined for Australia have been spoken for and could not say when more supplies would arrive, or whether the upcoming Corvette Z06 will become available in Australia.

The Corvette Z06 will soon be revealed in the US ahead of a 2022 launch as an MY23 model, but GMSV previously said that so far “no right-hand drive markets have been confirmed as part of the program”.

Australia’s standard Z51-spec Corvette Stingray is powered by a mid-mounted, naturally-aspirated 6.2-litre LT2 pushrod V8 (369kW/637Nm) matched with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission driving the rear wheels.

The first auto-only Corvette accelerates to 100km/h in 3.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 312km/h, but the more powerful Z06 will pack the first road-going application of GM’s high-revving, naturally-aspirated 5.5-litre LT6 V8 seen in the Corvette C8.R race car, featuring a flat-plane crank, 32-valve DOHC cylinder-heads and a redline north of 8000rpm.

And it will be followed by an even more potent new Corvette ZR1, almost certainly blessed with a 500kW-plus turbo V8 – and hopefully right-hand drive.

GMSV director Joanne Stogiannis said it was disappointing the arrival of the first local-spec Corvette could not be marked by more fanfare due to the coronavirus.

“This is a significant milestone for GMSV and while we would have loved to have celebrated with more fanfare, we have had to adjust our plans in light of COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions,” said Stogiannis.

“We always wanted the arrival of C8 to be a special, curated experience – but the situation in which we find ourselves means we have to adapt.

“We’re just as excited as all Corvette enthusiasts and owners-to-be to see one on the road Down Under and want to assure our passionate fans that we have activities planned for when restrictions allow to showcase this special vehicle.”

Production of Australia’s initial MY22 Corvette vehicles are set to commence in Kentucky later this month and the GMSV website continues to invite registrations of interest for the Corvette.

Given the demand, more examples of the MY22 Corvette are expected to arrive in Australia once they’re produced in RHD, followed by updated MY23 vehicles.