The National Corvette Museum announced yesterday that the Corvette Assembly Plant produced 4,059 Corvettes in March. This was the first time in 21 years they have exceeded 4,000 Corvettes in one month.
Technorati Tags: Corvette | Museum

Chief Corvette Engineer Tom Wallace talks to the Cleveland Plain Dealer about building the C7 Corvette. All options are currently on the table according to Wallace including right-hand drive, all-wheel drive, midengine, bigger displacement, swoopier styling and hybrids. While nothing earth-shattering comes from the article, it is always nice to hear the new chief talk about what may be in store for the new Corvette including the demand for more horsepower at a time when gas is $3.50 per gallon:

“Obviously fuel prices tend to make you step back from that once in a while, but the winners will increase horsepower and increase fuel economy. If you can do both of those, you can win. That is where we are going to continue to press. The Z06 is 505 horsepower and the only vehicle in the United States with 500 horsepower that doesn’t pay a gas-guzzler tax. ” said Wallace. When asked about supercharged Corvette, Wallace said “GM really knows how to supercharge and turbocharge engines. Clearly that is one of the alternatives we will continue to look at. You have to be careful about just continuing to increase displacement, because that does cost a lot of fuel economy.”

“We used to go eight, nine, 10 years, and that is too long. I keep thinking five or six years is about the most you want to stretch a major one in this segment. I think you start to get long in the tooth in the sixth year, and year seven and eight you’ll be in trouble.”

Last week, GM released the official order guide for 2007 Corvettes. While we already alerted you to the major changes for the 2007 model, I thought it would be appropriate to post the entire guide with options and colors offered for each Corvette model: 2007 Order Guide Information Three models:
1YY07 Corvette Coupe
1YY67 Corvette Convertible
1YY87 Corvette Z06 Coupe
1YY07 Coupe Information:
3 Packages; 1LT, 2LT, 3LT
2 Transmissions: MX0 Automatic, MN6 6 Speed

Options:
F55 Suspension Package
Z51 Suspension Package
QG7 Polished Wheels
QX1 Competition Gray Wheels
QX3 Chrome Wheels
R8C Museum Delivery
U3U Navigation with Single CD
VK3 Front License Plate Bracket
CC3 Transparent Top
C2L Transparent and Painted Top

Interior:
023 Cobalt Red
193 Ebony
313 Cashmere
843 Titanium
026 Cobalt Red Two Tone
316 Cashmere Two Tone
846 Titanium Two Tone

Colors:
10U Arctic White
19U LeMans Blue Metallic
41U Black
45U Velocity Yellow Tintcoat
67U Machine Silver Metallic
74U Victory Red
80U Monterey Red Metallic
83U Atomic Orange Metallic Tintcoat
1YY67 Convertible Information:
2 Packages; 2LT, 3LT
2 Transmissions: MX0 Automatic, MN6 6 Speed

Options:
CM7 Power Convertible Top
F55 Suspension Package
Z51 Suspension Package
QG7 Polished Wheels
QX1 Competition Gray Wheels
QX3 Chrome Wheels
R8C Museum Delivery
U3U Navigation with Single CD
VK3 Front License Plate Bracket

Interior:
023 Cobalt Red
193 Ebony
313 Cashmere
843 Titanium
026 Cobalt Red Two Tone
316 Cashmere Two Tone
846 Titanium Two Tone

Colors:
10U Arctic White
19U LeMans Blue Metallic
41U Black
45U Velocity Yellow Tintcoat
67U Machine Silver Metallic
74U Victory Red
80U Monterey Red Metallic
83U Atomic Orange Metallic Tintcoat

Top Colors:
29T Storm Gray
35T Beige
41T Black
1YY87 Z06 Coupe Information:
2 Packages; 1LZ, 2LZ
1 Transmissions: MN6 6 Speed

Options:
QL9 Polished Wheels
Q44 Competition Gray Wheels
R8C Museum Delivery
U3U Navigation with Single CD
VK3 Front License Plate Bracket

Interior:
023 Cobalt Red
193 Ebony
843 Titanium

Colors:
19U LeMans Blue Metallic
41U Black
45U Velocity Yellow Tintcoat
67U Machine Silver Metallic
74U Victory Red
83U Atomic Orange Metallic Tintcoat
New Dealer Accessories Available for 2007: Racing spoiler
Body side moldings
Racing stripe package
Z06 sillplates
Z06 427 hood badge
Hood blanket with color logo

Technorati Tags: Corvette

Thanks to the success of the C6 in foreign markets, especially Europe and Japan, the Corvette may be sold directly in Australia. This year, 400 Corvettes were sent to Japan which was expected to account for their entire yearly allocation. They sold out in a month. And in Europe, Corvette has sold three times the number of Corvettes in 2005 than in 2004. GM already has a presence in Australia with the Holden and is in the process of establishing distribution for Cadillac and Hummer. Corvette could possibly be sold at select Holden dealers. So will the Corvette be modified for Right Hand Drive? GM’s Bob Lutz says no with the current C6 model, but the C7 should be designed for both markets. Lutz said “With the next iteration of Corvette we really need to look at right-hand drive seriously. There is clearly a demand there, if we get the car right, as the latest model has shown.” “That way you get the economies of scale and all the development is done at the same time. The Corvette is one of GM’s treasured products, so we should make the most of it.” While the C6 has been for sale for two years, Lutz says GM is considering introducing the C7 model “sooner rather than later”. The C5 Corvette had a nine year life-span but GM may cut the C6’s life to five years, which would mean the new model could be available in 2009. Source: www.drive.com.au
Technorati Tags: Corvette | GM | Australia | Japan

Rick Conti is always good for some interesting Corvette news on his site (CorvetteConti.com) and today he comes through in spades. In addition to posting a photo for the real Atomic Orange (word is someone leaked the wrong color, whether intentional or not nobody is talking), Rick has posted the 2007 production changes that we can expect to see on next year’s Corvettes. The production changes are:

Exterior Color – (83U) Atomic Orange replacing (71U) Daytona Sunset orange Metallic Two-Tone Modified Seats. Perforated leather seating surfaces with crossed flag embroidery and contrasting stitching. The Two-tone interiors are available in Red (026), Cashmere (316) and Titanium (846) as well as Coupe or Convertible with 2LT or 3LT. Steering-Wheel mounted audio controls (UK3) included with Bose Premium (US9/U3U) audio systems. Larger Glovebox Storage Space. OnStar (UE1) is now available on Z06 2LZ Equipment Group. Enhanced Acoustic Package reduces road notice and is included with Z06 2LZ Equipment Group. Bose Audio Enhancements New Keyless access transmitter with integrated mechanical key. Power Convertible Top (CM7) is now included with Convertible 3LT Equipment Group. Cross-Drilled brake rotors are now included in Magnetic Selective Ride Control (F55).