Car and Driver: About That 2018 Corvette ZR1 Launch…How About Daytona?

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Car and Driver: About That 2018 Corvette ZR1 Launch...How About Daytona?


With the Corvette Team skipping the 2017 North American International Auto Show for the public debut of the 2018 Corvette ZR1, speculation is high on both where and when they will decide to make the latest C7 public.

We know the car is getting closer to reality based on the various on-going testing we’ve seen with the “big wing” C7. The 2018 Corvette ZR1 was recently spied without its covers and just last week it was spotted testing in the snow as these cold winter spy shots show.

Car and Driver’s Don Sherman has once again weighed in on the subject of the next Corvette and suggests that a reveal of the new C7 variant may be just around the corner.

Don says the 2018 Corvette ZR1 was scheduled to premiere in Detroit but the plans changed in late 2016. He has talked with a veteran engineer on the program who has said there are no delays with the C7 and future C8 programs. A second GM source did not confirm a roll-out of the Corvette ZR1, but Don says he “reacted positively to our rank speculation” about the Corvette ZR1 making its debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month.


The “big wing” Corvette is most certainly destined for a race track and the Corvette Team would love to show off the car in its natural environment. Tie in the fact that the Corvette Racing C7.Rs are the defending GTLM Champions and the Rolex 24 looks very possible.

Another thing going for a Daytona launch is location, location, location. Chevrolet is one of the major sponsors of the Daytona International Speedway and there are plans to allow customers to take deliveries of new Chevrolet vehicles at a special facility in the infield. The Rolex 24 at Daytona will have a contingent of Corvette fans at the race as well as an international press and so it is an intriguing venue to launch a new track car.

Chevrolet has used the first races of the year to debut new special editions previously. The 2009 GT1 Championship and Competition Sport special editions were first shown at Sebring in 2009 while the Carbon Edition Z06s made their public debut at the 12 hour race in 2011.

If not Daytona, the Chicago Auto Show happens in February and then New York International Auto Show is in April. The 2007 Ron Fellows Z06 made its debut in the Windy City while the 2015 Corvette Z06 Convertible bowed to the public from the Javits Center in NYC.

At this point, our choice would be the National Corvette Museum’s Bash event where the Corvette Team can once again reward the faithful with the launch of a new model as they did with the 2010 Corvette Grand Sport. Not only will the place be crawling with Corvette enthusiasts anxious to see the new Corvette, I hear there is a first-class racing facility called the NCM Motorsports Park right across the street.

Hot laps, anyone?

Update: Car and Driver has revised their story saying that new information from the floor of NAIAS now suggests a Daytona reveal is not likely and that it will be ‘later’.


Source:
Car and Driver

Related:
No 2018 Corvette ZR1 Announcement From NAIAS as Expected
[SPIED] 2018 Corvette ZR1 Caught Playing in the Canadian Snow
Car and Driver: Next Generation C8 Corvette to be Mid Engine Only

 



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