Chevy's Corvette lineup is more diverse than ever, and our editors configured their ideal version. Spoiler alert: none were under $100,000. The 2027 Chevy Corvette family definitely has the Brady Bunch beat. America's sports car now offers six distinct models (Stingray, Grand Sport, Grand Sport X, Z06, ZR1, and ZR1X), all of which are available in coupe or convertible body styles. That's a grand total of 12 different types of Vettes, and then you have to account for the multiple trim levels of each submodel, not to mention the cornucopia of available options.
Since the Car and Driver staff has a lot of opinions about how they'd spec their ideal C8—and apparently lots of time to burn—several of us went to work on Chevy's Corvette configurator. See what we came up with below, and then let us know how you feel about our choices in the comments.
I'd opt for the Grand Sport convertible, 'cause I'm not greedy. My Corvette, in 2LT guise with the standard wheels and all-season tires, is a year-round daily driver that can carve Southern California canyons and traverse Blue Ridge Mountain twisties with ease—top down, of course. I opted for the $995 Sebring Orange Tintcoat because why not? But I skipped the color-matching calipers, as they only come with fancy track packages I don't need.
View Price on AmazonFor the interior, I chose the Sky Cool Gray Mulan leather to break up the Batmobile-like look of all that black. Heated and ventilated seats as well as the upgraded 14-speaker Bose stereo were the deciding factors in choosing the mid-level 2LT trim over the base 1LT. That choice raised the drop-top Grand Sport's starting price from $95,495 to $102,595, but my out-the-door price is still just $103,590.
The base Stingray is a great car for the money ($73,495 to start), and the 1250-hp ZR1X absolutely warped my brain when I drove it earlier this year, but the Corvette Z06 is the sweet spot in the lineup, its naturally aspirated flat-plane-crank V-8 providing supercar performance and an awesome exhaust note. I stuck with the entry-level 1LZ trim, skipping some niceties but saving around $10K versus the other trims, which I'd spend on perfecting my Z06's look.
I chose the sultry Hysteria Purple Metallic paint, a no-cost option, and the $995 Spider-design Satin Graphite forged aluminum wheels. I decided to contrast the purple hue with red accents, selecting $695 red-painted brake calipers, red Z06 badges for $275, and a red engine intake for $595.
To make sure my Z06 stands out more, I went with the $9500 Z07 Performance package, which not only requires adding the eye-catching $8495 carbon-fiber aero kit but also brings suspension upgrades, Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, and grippy Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires. As a fan of IMSA endurance racing, I also opted for the special center caps that have the Corvette Racing script and the "Jake" skeleton logo seen on the C8.R race car.
Source: caranddriver.com
