First right-hand drive Chevrolet Corvette blasts off

The first right-hand drive examples of the Chevrolet Corvette C8 were seen blasting around Japan’s Fuji Speedway over the weekend as the countdown continues to the all-new mid-engined supercar’s global debut in Australia later this year.

Japan will be the first – and potentially the biggest – right-hook market for the new MY22 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, and racked up 300 sales in less than three days when the order books opened earlier this year.

Australia, the UK, New Zealand and a handful of other countries will also get the new Corvette, which is the first global model for the brand and follows in the footsteps of the super-successful Ford Mustang.

The event in Japan was originally intended to be a drive day for customers who have placed deposits, enabling them to get up close with the C8 Corvette.

But due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event became a ‘private preview’ that was live-streamed by the company and involved professional drivers only.

Several hiccups have affected the Australian rollout of the Corvette as well, with Aussies who put down cash for the new Corvette last year later told their deposits were invalid.

Local pricing could also start from as much as $187,990 drive-away for the base model MY22 Chevrolet Corvette 2LT Coupe, after documents obtained by carsales revealed the sticker shock – which is much higher than importer GMSV’s previously stated $149,990 list price.

Despite higher prices, the new model is almost certain to be a sell-out success in this country when it eventually touches down on Aussie terra firma.

Related: Chevrolet Corvette Stingray review

As the first RHD Chevrolet Corvette to roll out of the factory, there’s a huge amount of interest around the new mid-engined American sports car, which is powered by a 6.2-litre naturally-aspirated pushrod V8 generating 369kW/637Nm.

That’s enough muscle to see the C8 Corvette accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds.

Making use of a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (there’s no manual at this stage), it has a driver’s licence-voiding top speed of 312km/h.

Standard features on Aussie-delivered models will include a Bose Performance Series 14-speaker audio system, a colour head-up display and a front lift system designed to reduce scrapes on steep driveways.

The new C8 Corvette made its public debut in Australia last month, but it was a left-hand drive model.

As the Chevrolet Corvette shoots for international markets, all vehicles – even the RHD versions – will be built at Chevrolet’s Bowling Green car plant in Kentucky.

But with production currently on hold as part of a global parts shortage, its Aussie launch may be pushed into early 2022.

It will be sold through GMSV dealerships.