Green with envy is a good way to describe our general feelings towards the lucky few early C8 ZR1 owners, but a new emotion is suddenly creeping in; disappointment. Almost immediately after the cover was pulled off of the eighth-generation Corvette in the summer of ’19, revealing an exotic, angular, mid-engine shape, we were adamant that it needed a striking shade of green befitting its newly-found Lamborghini/McLaren proportions. For six years the only response this desire got from General Motors was one model year of the understated milky gray Cacti hue and an ill-advised foray into NFTs that didn’t even yield a Minted Green Z06.
Year seven, though, we finally saw the tide turn with the introduction of the completely Alien Roswell Green that perfectly fits the personality and shows particularly well on the most outrageous production Corvette ever built; the 1,064-horsepower ZR1 and its 1,250-horse hybrid X variant. Every time we have caught a glimpse of a ZR1 in its newest exterior color, we’re left thinking “if that’s not the best way to spec one of these monsters, it’s certainly in the running – and a lack of complimentary options like matching brake calipers are the only thing possibly holding it back from first place.”
The new King of the Hill suffered from a painful rookie campaign that saw delays, parts shortages, and a poorly timed start of production right before a two-week plant closure for the 4th of July and the planned ’26 switchover. This hurricane of issues limited ’25 ZR1 builds to barely over 100 units, but Bowling Green is locked in for 2026, with ZR1 VINs already more than tripling to 358. According to C8tracker.com and a thread over at CorvetteForum.com, just 286 of those ’26 have been verified with invoices as of October 21st, but it is still a staggering number that continues to outpace the more affordable E-Ray (which shows 244 so far for ’26 compared to 2,093 Z06 and 4,526 Stingrays).
With the invoiced examples, we are able to track take-rates for exterior color selection, and there are some somewhat shocking results. In first place, by a surprisingly large margin, is Black at 87 orders, a 30.4% share. With fewer than half of Black’s total, Arctic White is next on the podium at 42 examples; 14.7% of the total. Unexpectedly wearing the Bronze medal are the 33 Competition Yellow builds (11.5%), which are perhaps benefitting from their starring role in the initial press materials.
At 18 early adaptors; just 6.3%, THE Corvette staple Torch Red finds itself looking up at both the 23 of Sebring Orange and the 21 of the darker metallic Red Mist. The Blade Silver that was brought back from the C6 and Riptide Blue are tied with 17 orders and 5.9% apiece.
Sadly, the two most interesting colors on the palette find themselves riding in the caboose. Hysteria Purple sits just one shy of a three-way tie with Blue and Silver at 16. The beautiful, almost glowing Roswell Green? Dead last with only 12 interested parties in the first four months of production. This situation is a real shame, but there’s plenty of time to remedy it, and low production actually might suit such an extravagant color, lest it lose its impact. Now, and in the long run, though, Roswell is going to be a hot commodity to a certain sect of potential buyers, your author included, who are looking for something outside the norm.
Source:
C8tracker.com
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I think the Roswell Green vette would look much better with a tan interior.
Last Saturday I saw a Roswell Green Metallic Stingray for the first time in person at the big annual Corvette show at Hendrick Motorsports in Charlotte. It was in full sun and I thought it looked damn good! The owner told me he liked the color so well that he sold his C8 Z06 so he could buy the Roswell Green Stingray. I thought that was very odd though to downgrade like that just because he liked the color!
I can easily explain why black is #1. It’s because there’s so many bits and pieces slapped all over the ZR1 that it’s about the only way to tone-down the ostentatiousness.
As far as green, RG is the tepid offering that is neither the dark green that everyone wanted, nor the neon green that everyone wanted. We would have been better off with the green that adorned the stripes on the 2025 Pace Car Livery.
Meh. Any green is for British sports cars. Get it for your McLaren.
I hate to say it but the Roswell Green color is one or two shades too dark for my taste. I was really looking forward to ordering an E-Ray in this color but when I saw it in person, it only looks good in full sun. Same with Hysteria Purple which just doesn’t pop unless in bright sunlight and even then, it’s not what it should have been in my opinion. I’ll be ordering either yellow or orange.
My corvette when I turn 50 will be torch red. No exceptions. I would regret any other color. My current car is sonic gray pearl and I love the car but the lack of color kills me.
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