[VIDEO] Here is Everything We Know About the 21 C8 Corvette ZR1 Prototypes Already Built

It was back in February that the Corvette Assembly Plant ended public tours for “manufacturing advancements” as we were told. Many of us were speculating that plant workers could now test the assembly process for the upcoming C8 Corvette ZR1s by sending a few pre-production cars down the assembly line. Well, we weren’t wrong as some internal GM paperwork shows at least 21 Corvette ZR1 “EX” cars have been completed.

The “EX” is at the end of these VINs, and it designates these cars as experimental builds. These pre-production Corvettes will be destroyed once Chevy is done testing them. We will know we are getting closer to the production of the customer cars once Chevy starts building “saleable” VINs, which are captured test fleet cars that Chevy will sell back to dealers as a preowned vehicle once they are finished testing. However, I think there is still a lot of time ahead of us before we get to the point where they are building saleable VIN ZR1s. FYI, if you are lucky enough to spot a ZR1 test car up close, always take a pic of the VIN!

So what do we know about these prototype ZR1s? Our friend Rick Conti looked up the builds of these pre-production cars and recently shared some of the details on his channel. As he is a Chevy sales representative, he is keeping some details private like the new color codes which will be released later, but we get some cool info as you will see below.

Photo Credit: Kevin Bayerlein / C8 Corvette Owners (FB)

According to the paperwork, the ZR1s are designated by the body code 1YR with the Coupe being 1YR07 and the Convertible being 1YR67. Currently the “EX” cars break down as 15 Coupes and 6 Convertibles.

These cars were also built with the following codes that sure do look to be the ZR1’s wheel options. We’ve already spied the design of these wheels as the cars were tested on the Nurburgring last October and the pre-production test cars they have been driving on public roads. Those codes are SOF, SOG, SOH, and SOJ. There are no other details shared, but we are assuming they may have similar finishes to the Z06 wheels which have similar wheel codes like SOA (Black), SOC (Satin Graphite), SOD (Machined Face), and SOE (Titanium Satin).

Along with the wheels, there is a J58 code which should be for the Brembo Carbon Ceramic brakes. The Z06 RPO option for the CCBs is J57. And then there is one of our favorite options that will only be available on the ZR1: J6B Blue Calipers! Sure wish those were a free flow option, but ZR1 owners have always had the exclusive on that color.

Photo Credit: Keith Cornett

Some other codes that were on the build information for these cars was the LT7 (engine – but no details) and the M1K which is the DCT transmission. There is a B72 which Conti believes are special ZR1 door sills. Three unknown option codes were also mentioned: WMZ, ETV and T0M.

And finally, we are very excited to see the return of ZTK which was used on the 2019 Corvette ZR1 to designate the High Performance Package. We think that for the C8 ZR1 they may go the same way as the Z06 and that you can select your aero style. Perhaps T0M is that bigger High Wing we saw the team using on some of the Nurburgring test cars? Those prototypes were wearing two wings, the Z06 style wing and then an even larger wing. As the codes for the Z06 aero spoilers are T0F and T0G, we’re thinking that T0M is most likely that large wing.

Photo Credit: Spiedbilde

As a reminder, we are just one week out from the Michelin NCM Bash where we will hopefully learn some of the new colors for the 2025 which could be already on some of these pre-production Corvette ZR1s. However, Rick reminds us not to jump to conclusions that the ZR1 is going to be a 2025 model. The reveal teaser video that Chevy put out last week said nothing about this car being a 2025 model year, so it’s quite possible we are looking at these being released during the 2026 model year. Only time will tell!

Thanks again to Rick for sharing this info. You can watch his video below where this info came from and he starts talking ZR1 at the 8:30 mark.

Source:
Rick ‘Corvette’ Conti / YouTube

Related:
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