CorvetteBlogger’s Top 10 Corvette Stories of 2017

Raise your hands if you thought 2017 was a great year for Corvette fans!

It was also a banner year for us here at CorvetteBlogger.com as we set our own records for audience acquisition and growth. Much of our success comes from having two great fellow bloggers Mitch Talley and Steve Burns who are well-versed in the Corvette hobby, as well a vibrant and well-informed group of Corvette enthusiasts that serve to keep us from running off in the wrong direction. Most of all we thank our readers who rely on us for providing the most accurate information about America’s favorite sports car.

The C7 Corvettes continued to impress fans and Chevrolet celebrated Corvette’s 65th Anniversary with the limited edition Carbon 65 model. Much of our attention was spent trying to figure out exactly when and where the new Corvette ZR1 would make its debut. And while all that was going on, Chevrolet took the opportunity to give us a glimpse of the future by taking three mid-engine C8 prototypes to a McDonalds in Cadillac, MI! The Bowling Green Assembly Plant was also a key focus for news as the 2018 model year would be halted for three months as the plant was gutted and retooled for future production needs. And who would have expected Chevrolet to end 2018 models year early and start 2019 production at the end of January 2018?

For each of these events, CorvetteBlogger was there to provide the news as well as our analysis, and many times our readers were among the first to know about these breaking stories.

We look back at 2017 and are sometimes amazed about just how much news was made during the year by Corvette, and we wanted to see which of these stories were the biggest based on your readership. So check out the Top 10 Corvette stories that appeared on Corvette in 2017:

10: New Spy Photos Show C8 Mid Engine Corvette as Engineers Scramble to Cover it

The mid-engine C8 Corvette made news over the summer of 2017 after a spy photographer’s drone flying near (or over) the Milford Proving Grounds captured video of the car as it was being tested. Engineers spotted the hovering drone and quickly covered the car from prying eyes. But that brief glimpse showed that the car had come a long way with fitted body panels and a huge front windshield.

9: Key Dates for 2018 Corvette Production

CorvetteBlogger broke the news earlier in the year that the assembly plant would be halting for three months to perform a series of upgrades. By the time the NCM Bash rolled around in April, we learned that the shut down would happen from August to November, and this post featured the final dates for ordering 2017 models along with the starting dates for 2018 model year ordering and production.

8: [VIDEO] What’s New with the 2018 Corvette Seminar from the NCM Bash

One of our favorite Corvette events of the year happens at the end of April with the National Corvette Museum’s annual Bash event. For 2017, Chevrolet introduced the 2018 model year including the new Carbon 65 edition. The highlight of the show is the Corvette Team’s What’s New seminar and our video of the event continues to educate, inform and entertain those who cannot attend themselves.

7: [SPIED] Camouflaged Mid Engine C8 Corvette Spotted in Public for First Time

Corvette fans will remember the first time they got a glimpse of the mid-engine C8 Corvette prototypes. A caravan of three prototypes, a Porsche 911 and several support vehicles decided to have a lunch date by going to a McDonalds Drive-Thru in Cadillac, MI. Why would they do this trip at this time? It wasn’t lost on us that many think the mid-engine is a Cadillac, and the trip to Cadillac was a way to stroke those rumors. However, we felt the real reason they were shown in public is that days later it was announced that 2018 model year was ending early and 2019s would start in January 2018.

6: The Order Guide is Out and the ‘Carbon 65’ Package is the New Special Edition for 2018 Corvette

The Corvette Order Guide release always offers a few surprises and the one for the 2018 Corvette hit the web early and we were ready for it. Among the updates was the news of the new anniversary edition called the Carbon 65.

5: The Top 50 Corvette Dealers of 2016

“Knowledge is Power” is a phrase we like to say when it comes to buying a new Corvette, and knowing who the dealers are that specialize in selling Corvettes can make for a better buying experience. Our Top 50 Dealers List provides those buyers an opportunity to learn who is selling the most Corvettes near them.

4: SPIED: Looks Like the 2018 Corvette ZR1 Will Have An Exposed Supercharger

You would think that the engineering firm that drives the Corvette ZR1 prototypes would have access to their own private fuel pumps, but apparently they don’t as gas stations offered Corvette fans an opportunity to see the new 2019 Corvette ZR1s while they were sitting still. This fuel stop in September also gave us the first clear photos of the ZR1’s new halo hood which seemed to confirm that the car’s supercharger cover would be exposed through the hood.

3: [PIC] The 750-hp Corvette ZR1 Makes the Cover of Car and Driver

For two days in November, CorvetteBlogger ruled the internet, first with our story below which many scoffed at, and then we followed it up the next day with the first magazine cover showing the new 2019 Corvette ZR1. For the record, the cover wasn’t leaked as Chevy offered the long-lead mags an advance look at the car prior to the debut in Dubai. However, we were tipped off to be looking for it that week and lucky for us, we were able to post it first. This story set our record for the most views of an individual story in a single day.

2: 2019 Corvette ZR1 Reveal Planned for Dubai Motor Show with US Debut in L.A.

This was actually a post that nearly wasn’t. Indications were that the ZR1 was going to debut at the LA Auto Show, but it turns out that it would first appear at a special invitation-only event prior to the start of the Dubai Auto Show in mid-November. Again, CorvetteBlogger with the trusty force as our ally, went out on the limb and named Dubai as the location for the 2019 Corvette ZR1’s first public viewing, and thankfully it was confirmed after a middle-east Corvette fan saw our article and sent us a copy of his invite to the debut event.

1: Final Corvette Rolls Off the Old Assembly Line as Retooling Begins

Our top story for 2017 was the closure of the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green for the three-month summer shutdown. That closure officially happened on July 28th. Over the course of several years, General Motors has invested nearly $1 billion into the Corvette program with major upgrades including a new state-of-the-art paint facility as well as these upgrades to the assembly process. During this summer’s three month shut-down, Chevy spent an average of one million dollars per day in gutting the plant and then retooling for the future.

I hope you enjoyed this look back at the Top 10 Corvette stories here at CorvetteBlogger.com. The most exciting part of looking back at these stories in knowing that the future is always in motion. We look ahead to 2018 to what’s in store for the Chevrolet Corvette as well as all the great people who make up our hobby.

Related:
Production Statistics for the 2017 Corvette Model Year
[PICS] First Look at the 2018 Carbon 65 Corvette Limited Edition
[PICS] This 2014 Corvette Stingray is the Cheapest C7 on eBay!