A New Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Is On The Way

For its eighth generation, the Chevrolet Corvette finally went mid-engined after years of concepts, hints and false dawns; a move that positioned it closer than ever before to European exotica. Then, to create the higher-performance Z06 version, Chevrolet benchmarked one of the greatest supercars of recent years, the Ferrari 458.

Now, if anyone was still in doubt that the Corvette was a fully paid-up member of the supercar club, they’re about to be silenced. Ahead of its debut this summer, Chevrolet is teasing the range-topping ZR1 version.

The ZR1 designation has been used several times to denote the highest-performing version of the Corvette range, and it last appeared in 2017 on the C7 ’Vette, the final front-engined car.

In that form, it featured a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 that made a mighty 755bhp and some very aggressive aero. Already, it was perfectly capable of matching Europe’s best, but the C8 version should elevate that even further.

What might power it is a bit up in the air. A V8 is basically a no-brainer, but exactly which is unclear. The current Z06 eschews its predecessor’s supercharged 6.2-litre cross-plane crank V8 for a new naturally aspirated 5.5-litre flat-plane crank version. Making 670bhp and revving out to 8600rpm, it’s already the most powerful naturally aspirated production V8 ever.

It seems likely the ZR1 will build on that engine, perhaps with some sort of forced induction, especially as the brief bit of engine noise we can hear in the short teaser video has a definite raw edge to it, sounding much closer to a high-revving supercar than an old-school American muscle car.

Of course, Chevrolet has also recently released the first hybrid Corvette, the four-wheel drive E-Ray. We’re perfectly used at this point to supercar makers using hybrid powertrains to chase higher performance, so there’s always the option of Chevy going down that route, although we’d say it’s a lot less likely.

We also get a very quick look at the car’s silhouette, which shows some properly aggressive aero. It all points to a ZR1 that’ll have the likes of the McLaren 765LT, Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, and whatever Porsche cooks up for the next-generation 911 GT2 RS squarely in its sights. We’ll get to see it in full this summer.