Manoli Katakis 
If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed a report from Car & Driver as far back as 2018 that cites plans for a two hyper C8 Corvette variants well above the Z06. One is expected to have a twin-turbo 5.5L DOHC V8 with around 800 horsepower, and other with that same engine strapped to an AWD drive unit with a battery pack sending power to the front wheels, making close to 1,000 horsepower. This one, according to Motor Trend, is the C8 Corvette ZR1.
Despite MT’s recent attempts at Corvette journalism, we’d be willing to buy into this allegation one hundred percent. Except people are forgetting about something: the C8 Corvette Zora.
We will continue to beat this drum. The C8 Corvette ZR1 will not be a hybrid. It will have twin-turbos, however. The truth is that the C8 Corvette Zora will be the twin-turbo hybrid the report is talking about, and it will push the envelope for what people expect when it comes to performance for the price, even by Corvette standards. In other words, a relative performance bargain.
Here’s how the C8 lineup will shake up beyond the base level Stingray:
With the debut of the C8.R set to go racing in January, Chevrolet is set to debut the production car it will be based off of, which is the C8 Corvette Z06. It will have a naturally aspirated 5.5L flat plane crank V8 that will spin at over 8,000 RPM. The will likely come the C8 Corvette E-Ray, which will feature the 6.2L LT2 small block V8 working with a battery pack that will sit between the front wheels, in the frunk area. It will be the first Corvette hybrid, but not the only one. Following that, the penultimate C8 Corvette ZR1 will likely show face quite a few years from now. Then, as the grand finale, Chevrolet will introduce the Zora hybrid – the final word in what an American supercar can do.
Be sure to check back to MC&T for the correct C8 Corvette news.
