Sam Krahn 
The C8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Convertible are already great vehicles with huge performance, but they are only the beginning of the mid-engined Corvette’s lineage. Over the next few years, we’ll see several exciting models debut, and this means we’ll be seeing more and more spy shots of development prototypes. Next up on the C8 Corvette’s release schedule is the Z06, hence why we’ve seen them in spy shots many times. But photos and a video of a camo’d C8 Corvette that doesn’t look like the other Z06 mules just popped up on our radar, leading the blogosphere to speculate that it’s the C8 Corvette E-Ray hybrid. However, our German sources inform us that it’s actually something else entirely.
The video, posted by the account DrGumoLunatic, shows what looks like a pretty standard C8 Corvette, just with part of the rear bumper removed. In fact, it looks a lot like C8 prototypes that tested before the car was initially revealed full back in 2019.
We know a hybrid C8 Corvette E-Ray is inbound, with an electric motor powering the front axle, so it’s easy to assume this is prototype an E-Ray, as the video description says. But our sources say this isn’t true, as the E-Ray just isn’t far enough into its 2023 model year development process to be out testing in Germany. We haven’t even seen many, if any, on public roads just yet.
Another issue with this is the body. Both the C8 Corvette Z06 and E-Ray will use a widebody design for added aggression and wider tires front and rear. This rather thrown-together prototype is running on the standard Stingray body with regular wheels and basic tires, definitely eliminating it from being a specific Z06 mule. And while a E-Ray powertrain mule could just as well test with a narrow body, there’s still the fact it’s too early in development. Where does this leave our mystery German C8 Corvette prototype?
Ready for it? Our German supplier sources say it’s simply a test mule for the LT6 engine that will be found exclusively in the C8 Corvette Z06, which will be a seriously special motor. The naturally aspirated 5.5 liter DOHC flat plane crank LT6 V8 is heavily based on the C8.R race car engine, and should be a high-RPM screamer. This test mule is being used for engine calibrations by a supplier, we’re told, to fine-tune the all-new LT6 DOHC V8. You heard it here first.
As time goes on, we’re excited to unpack the mysteries of future C8 Corvette models, from Z06, to E-Ray, to ZR1, to Zora.
