Since 1953, Chevrolet has built 1,936,435 total Corvettes. As of the changeover to the 2026 model year, that puts us just 63,565 units away from crossing the 2,000,000 mark. Based on recent production totals, that major milestone should happen during the 2027 or 2028 model years, but the current C8 Corvette just hit its own landmark: there are now more C8 Corvettes on the road than C7s!
C8 vs. C7
Over six years on sale, between 2014 and 2019, the last Corvette with its V8 out front earned 189,507 total sales spread out among four distinct models from Stingray to one-year-only ZR1, with a heavy emphasis on widebody Grand Sport (26,280 from ’17-’19) and Z06 (39,940 from ’15 – ’19) sales. With the same number of model years on sale, the Mid-engine C8 managed to outsell its predecessor by just 5,462 units with a final tally of 194,969.
Total C8 Production:
The revolutionary eighth branch of the Corvette Family Tree took a unique path to outpacing the C7, too. The extensive retooling required to get Bowling Green ready to piece together C8s, compounded by COVID-related production issues and parts shortages, plagued the early ramp-up and successive model launches. After 34,822 ‘Vettes were sold in ’19, the white-hot ’20s were only able to satisfy 20,368 customers, often at steep premiums. The Z06 model that arrived in year two of the C6 and C7 life cycles was pushed back to year four, leaving the Stingray as the only option until 2023, when the two models exploded for 53,785 single-year sales, just 23 examples shy of the all-time single-year record that has been in place since 1979.
Total C7 Production:
The unique hybrid-AWD E-Ray was added to the mix in ’24 but was afflicted by its own growing pains and a lack of resonance and understanding from customers. It only added 1,417 units to the total in year one, followed by an underwhelming 3,153 in ’25. Last year, the 1,064-horsepower ZR1 became the fourth piece of the portfolio, but, for another multitude of reasons, just 180 were built to help the C8 get over the mostly steady at 30- 40k per year (except for the weirdly shortened 2018 MY) C7 crest.
Where the C8 Stands After Six Model Years
A 194,969 score through six has the C8 Corvette in fifth place among the eight generations of America’s only true Sports Car. Other than the previously mentioned C7, there are two C’s already in the C8’s rearview. The second rarest ‘Vette in history is the C2 “Midyear” that, despite being the quintessential Corvette in many people’s minds, was only on sale for five years from 1963-67, finding 117,964 buyers along the way. That leaves the straight axle C1 as the hardest to find, both because of its age and relatively minuscule production run. From the model’s debut in 1953 until the changeover to Sting Rays in ’63, the first car to wear the Crossed Flags only reached 69,015 buyers over ten model years and multiple major redesigns.
Next in the C8’s crosshairs, just 20,254 units away, is the C6 Corvette that needed nine years to rack up 215,223 sales. Further down the road, but still theoretically catchable, is the third place C5 that moved nearly a quarter million units (248,715) over eight years on sale. The distant silver medal belongs to the C4 that brought the Plastic Fantastic into the modern era, and its 358,180 sales (yes, it is 109k ahead of the C5!) over a 13-year production run are all but untouchable at this point.
The Cal Ripkin Jr. of Corvettes, though, with the generational production run that won’t ever be outdone, is the C3. The swoopy Coke bottle Mako Shark generation debuted in 1968 and was built through 1982, making it the longest-tenured Corvette at 15 long years. That longevity isn’t the only reason behind its ranking 184,682 units ahead of the next best and 2.18x higher than third place. No, to get to its whopping 542,862 finale, the C3 also had to clear a seemingly impossible hurdle. It had to remain popular even as it lost power and performance as the ‘Vette saddled with stewarding the brand through the dreaded malaise era. Saying that it succeeded is an understatement; the C3 sold more than 35,000 in a year, an impressive nine times, including the best run in ‘Vette history when it went over 40k six-straight years starting in the lean days of 1976 and peaking at 53,807 against all odds in its 12th year in showrooms.
Related:
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[VIDEO] Mike Furman’s 6,000th New Corvette Delivery
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How many are on the market new and used.
If not for the pandemic, the first year numbers would have been much higher.
Interesting question, Rv.
It’s not an exact science, but Cars.com is showing 6,124 C8s (about 3.1% of total production) on the market as of today. That’s all years and models and conditions. The breakdown is 2,515 used and 3,608 new.
Vs. just 1,415 available C7s.
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