Chevrolet is Officially Out of the Attainable Performance Car Game

By
Alex Sommers
-
27
172398

Chevrolet is Officially Out of the Attainable Performance Car Game

Photo Credit: Chevrolet


In 1955, Ed Cole unleashed the Small Block V8 on the world and instantly turned General Motors’ ho-hum entry-level brand into a performance powerhouse. Throughout the following decades, his compact, 4.4-inch on-center bore spaced 90-degree pushrod V8 transformed badges like Bel Air, Camaro, Chevelle, and Corvette into some of the world’s fastest and most desirable cars. But no matter how lust-worthy these burbling, swaggering slices of American shock-and-awe became, Cole and his successors were sure to keep the company’s core mission of mass affordability front and center. As recently as 2017, one could walk into the local Chevrolet showroom and come face to face with six different cars powered by the decedents of Cole’s game-changing bent-eight. Most importantly, even after 62 years of progress, safety mandates, and inflation, all six eight-cylinder sleds still landed between “instant approval with proof of some regular income” and “something just about anyone could realistically aspire to own.”

Back in ’17, the Small Block Club was accessible from just $36,905. That humble sum secured a manual transmission, 455-horse 6.2L LT1-powered Sixth-Gen Camaro 1SS that was fresh off a Car of the Year title. Those who wanted to add all of the trimmings, like heated/cooled seats and wireless phone charging, to the mix could upgrade to a 2SS for $41,905. In the underappreciated masterpiece that was the Ausie-imported – and confusingly named – SS, 2017 also marked the last time you could get a new eight-cylinder sedan from Chevy; it came fully loaded for $46,625. At the same time, the award-winning base C7 Corvette Stingray carried an MSRP of just $55,450. If you thought some extra “juice” was worth squeezing your wallet a little, there were three options still on the table, starting with the 650 HP, $61,140 Camaro ZL1. On top of that were two varieties of widebody Corvette that you could get your hands on without having to cut a check over $80,000.

2020 Corvette


Looking back at that performance-per-dollar paints a bleak picture of our Bowtie buying power just seven short years later. The SS sedan, and Australian auto-manufacturing itself, is already a distant memory. As of this week, the Camaro has been re-retired, and the mid-engine replacement for 66 years of original recipe Corvette development, once heralded as the deal of the century, has seen $10,000 in price creep over its first four years on sale, putting its basement floor almost 26% above of its Stingray predecessor’s 2017 starting point.

Not only is Chevy’s once-proud blue-collar performance corral down to just three flavors of Corvette, where it previously served up more attainable sedan and 2+2 Pony Cars, but the two-door leftovers have had their economics of ownership significantly altered. Not only has the base Corvette left the previous model in the dust financially, but it now acts as the entry point for all V8 goodness. That makes the cheapest V8-powered Chevy 89% more expensive than it was in 2017. The Stingray also stands as the only option under the ceiling set by the previous Z06. Elsewhere, the new E-Ray trim replaces the once-popular Grand Sport in the middle of the Corvette pack. At $106,495, it starts a whopping $41,045, or 62.7%, higher than the first-year C7 GS was asking. Then there’s the Z06 that acts as top dog in ’24, as it did in 2017. A side-by-side comparison reveals the new car to be 40.59% more expensive, with its ballooning bottom line now totaling $111,695 before buyers check a single option box!

Chevrolet is Officially Out of the Attainable Performance Car Game


Looking ahead, the C8 Corvette family is expecting two more models to join the fold. The imminent twin-turbo ZR1 is set to take the Crossed Flags to new heights, but to do this, it’ll have to leave traditional ‘Vette customers out to dry. With the Z06 as a starting point and 850+ horses on board, we won’t flinch if the 2025 ZR1 starts at $200,000 or more. After that, the only other murmurings about future Corvettes revolve around a halo model called “Zora” that is set to join the ZR1 and E-Ray powertrains in unholy matrimony to the tune of four-digit horsepower. With the ZR1 already poised to cross the $200k barrier, what could Chevy have in mind for its AWD HyperVette? $250,000? $300,000? We aren’t sure, but in a world where Ford feels comfortable slapping a $300k price tag on a Mustang that isn’t half as technically impressive, there’s no telling where this thing could land!

As exciting as the prospect of a 1,000+ HP Corvette is to us as long-time fans of the Crossed Flags, Chevrolet’s C8 pricing strategy is equally disheartening to us as prospective owners. Despite our ingenious suggestion, it appears as if the sizable sub-Stingray space that the Camaro was forced to vacate AND the $37,000 gap between the Base ‘Vette and the E-Ray are going to continue getting the cold shoulder from the parent company. With the 1LT Stingray now swimming in $70,000 waters and nothing in the pipeline aimed at long-time customers who can’t spend more than $1,000 per month on what usually amounts to a weekend toy, Ed Cole’s “performance for all” blueprint just might have reached its expiration date.


Related:
Bowling Green’s Performance Build Center Assembled the Final LT4 Engine for the Camaro ZL1
GM is Ending 2024 Camaro Production Early, Leaving the C8 Corvette as Chevrolet’s Lone Performance Option
The Sixth-Gen Camaro Bows Out with a Pair of Special Editions

Subscribe Now:

 



-

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

27 COMMENTS

  1. GREAT job from Alex on a topic that most of us have been going over since the end of Generation #7 of Corvettes in 2019.
    The old saying is true – If I only knew back then – what I know now!
    After owning four Corvettes (’96, ’57, ’02, ’08) and two Camaros (’78, ’94) that were truly affordable and in my opinion the best Sports Car ever built, I now wish that all six of these Chevrolet vehicles were still parked in my garage.
    Using the original Chevrolet Genesis of an affordable car or truck for every American, Alex does some math work that now kills what makes Chevrolet a popular affordable vehicle.
    Perhaps the current management team (Ms. Barra) should attend a local Corvette show or a Cars And Coffee to realize what a tragic and nasty habit they have created with the 8th Generation of Corvettes and the death of all Camaros.
    Everyone needs alot of disposable income to buy a new Stingray, and needs to rob a bank for a new Z06 or the outrageous E-Ray Corvettes.
    It’s a damn shame that Chevrolet has created this mess with new Corvettes, cost, availability, transmission and parts problems, bad suppliers, and yet here comes a New Corvette that will blow you away.
    Thanks for listening.

  2. Great article. If someone would like to enter into the Corvette ownership hobby, they might be able to find a preowned, hopefully well-loved C3 to C5 to enjoy.

  3. Every car company has a top tier vehicle.
    Chevy has the Corvette.
    Why is it so hard to understand its higher pricing?
    It’s (truly) an exclusive sports car that not everyone can afford.
    Go buy a Corolla.

  4. Every car company has a top tier vehicle.
    Chevy has the Corvette.
    Why is it so hard to understand its higher pricing?
    It’s (truly) an exclusive sports car that not everyone can afford.
    Go buy a Corolla.
    Nobody questions a $300,000 Ferrari.

  5. True you couldn’t even see out of a Camaro but at least keep the sweet V6 around. Such a great lightweight package and a manual. That leaves me with a Subaru flat 4 powered 2 seater that is prone to catastrophic engine failure…no thanks I’ll just wait for a little old lady to hand over the keys to her 450hp SS Camaro and take Her to Church on Sunday. Vettes are way too claustrophobic. Never even sat in one too scared I’ll get stuck and they’ll have to rent the jaws of life to cut me loose.

  6. This is probably one of the saddest Chevy articles that I have ever read. One of the facts that the author failed to point out is that for every high dollar Z06, E-Ray and ZR1 that the factory builds, those are Stingrays that do not get built. Also, GM is now exporting them at the highest volume ever. Those are units not available to the American public. I predict that the Mustang is going to do very well. I have a ’23 Stingray which is my 14th Corvette, but man, was it a stretch. Ferrari does not move enough volume to be in the conversation.

  7. Very good article from Alex. I would like to add that albeit rather accurate in it’s findings it is also true that GM produced these past bang for the buck cars in large quantities most of the them readily available in the used market. Couple this with a seemingly thriving parts industry for older corvettes and voila’.

    What I’d like to lament is the fact that the C8 selling ecosystem still has a lot of catching up to do. As prices continue to raise for Corvettes the dealerships seem to be still in full auction mode. At least in big cities.

    The bulk MSRP sellers may have made a few early entrants relatively happy but for the rest…at what point waiting four to five years for that 30K to 40K MSRP deal is really that great? Four years waiting, a cup of coffee.. two minute friendly chat and then next in line please for a 150K+ car.

    The C8 portfolio is awesome but IMHO the selling ecosystem has some catching up to do.

    My2C

  8. My first Corvette was a new 84 c4, cost just above $20k. I finally reached a point in my life where I could afford a ‘super car’ and the C4 was it. As beautiful as the 84 was, and I loved the new vetted style, it was a dog on the performance side, 205hp! I kept that car for nine months, lost a ton of dough selling it and bought a brand new 1985 930 Porsche. Cost me $50k but that thing was a rocket. I had more fun in that Porsche than any other cars owned which included a 1965 911 and a 1973 911s and of course the 84 C4. The affordability of my cars was something few of my friends could attain at that time. I think it’s the same today where some have the financial means to afford $100k plus and the vast majority don’t.

  9. As Lee iacocca said “eventually they will price themselves out of the market. Get rid of Barra.

  11. Sad story. I already decided no more new Chevrolets after finding $100K markups on the new Z06. Chevrolet has lost its way. Byebye bow tie

  12. If racing sells cars, Mustang is back in the game at Daytona next month ready to make up for that electric Mustang abortion…GM take note.

  13. Nice job Chevrolet. Ford and Dodge are eating your friggen lunch, you Corporate idiots really screwed the pooch on this one. Priced yourselves right out of the market, so what are you going to screw up next??

  14. Ya, so much for any “regular” people being able to buy anything fun. Smooth move jack asses.

  15. Hey Peter, that’s funny. Since the 90’s the Vettes have pretty much slapped the shit out of the German over rated wonder machines. Lol, my 2011 GS will smoke both of those German POS’s you have. Bummer. A C4 Vette is not much of a comparison considering the newer the Vette is the faster and better they are. I guess someone has to buy those things.

  16. Is no one going to mention that this article is even way more sad in really? With all the dealer price gouging you can’t touch a C8 Vette for anywhere near the above mentioned pricing. You can just maybe find a 3 or 4 year old low option high mile version for the pricing mentioned in this article! It’s Ludacris!

  17. They are making an ignorant decision to think they can force us to go electric except we all know they’re junk so we will all start buying foreign made cars bc they will be intelligent enough to provide us with gasoline powered vehicles. I hope Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge all go bankrupt the next decade 🙏

  19. So you’re saying that the Mustang GTD isn’t as technically impressive? We will see how your corvettes rank after it runs Nuremberg which is exactly what it aims to conquer. And let’s not get to far ahead of ourselves underestimating the blue oval. When it comes to pedigrees, I don’t think the bowtie has ever made anything remotely close to the impacts ford has historically. As a matter of fact, GM has spent a lot of time copying Ford. When you compare the new vette to the ford GT, there’s that. And we’ve all watched as chevrolet trucks mimic ford every step of the way. The “little man” step they made fun of is now on chevrolet trucks, the taillights of the most recent generations of chevrolet look an awful lot like the ford’s that were released two years prior. Now ford is the only maker in the market dropping a nearly 500HP v8 coupe under 50k and its at least sticking around for another 4 years. Inside rumors have it that the 2028 cut date for the S650 is because they are rolling out a new platform after a decade and a half of the dame underpinnings. Back to the GTD, you apparently have not looked into what this car is. Maybe you should. There is NOTHING like it, nor has there ever been, on the streets

  20. The 6th Gen Camaro, for the past 2 yrs, has been commanding a price premium on all it’s versions across the board. A used 6th Gen Camaro 1SS 1LE used with 60k miles has been selling for $50k. A used ZL1 coupe is in the $60-$70k range. These are for used versions. That’s what MSRP is/was on these Camaros. A V6 1LE is in the low $30ks used for a 2020 year.
    Everybody knew the 6th Gen Camaro was a great car despite the complaining about small windows by those who drive Malibus and Pickup trucks. So every enthusiast is desperately trying to snatch up a 6th Gen Camaro before they all wind up in Garages and race tracks. It happens with all the best sports cars. People don’t want them when available. They want them when nobody else can have one.

  22. $300k for a Mustang that isn’t half as technically impressive as what? An e-Ray? I think the first Prius hybrid came out like a decade and a half ago so is that the tech you’re so proud of? That Mustang has aero and suspension tech that leaves most race cars jealous and it is so far out of the scope of this affordability article I don’t even know why you’d mention it. A Chevy guy just has to troll Ford I guess? Meanwhile Ford sells high revving V8s to anyone with $40 grand and still sells a sports car with three pedals like God intended. I own neither, I have a 350 HP, manual mid engine car that delivers 90+% of Corvette performance, all day HPDE reliability, barely depreciates, and puts a smile on my face every time I get behind the wheel. With 6,800 miles on it I got it in the high $60s. Sad it comes from Germany because that type of value proposition used to be American made.

  23. Wow, like the contributor above recommended. I DID buy a Corolla hybrid this year, for 25k new, and 50 plus mpg at 77mpg, which is about as fast as I can run on east coast interstates. My 2018 Z06 loafs along at that speed, but all these new millionaire vette owners haven’t bribed their congressmen to raise the speed limits yet, and what’s a poor boy who got his vette for $30k off msrp during the GM clearance sales to do? Keep raising the vette’s price; don’t mind a rising tide lifting my 650hp boat too!

  24. Let’s hope the liberal in charge is eventually shown the door once the shareholders see GM falling far behind. The blind race to EVs and forgoing everything else is a losing strategy.

  25. Chevy is really screwing up by discontinuing the Camero! No one wants the Corvette mess!! You can’t even get down into the seat if you are a tall person, and who wants to roll out of a car they just broke the bank to purchase. Sorry but not a fan of this corporate decision. We won’t be buying any new Chevys anytime soon. 🙁

Comments are closed.