Chevy begins shipping C7 Corvette Stingray
Wed, 18 Sep 2013
If you live in the greater Detroit area or in one of General Motors' favorite testing zones, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the C7 era is already upon us – Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupes are thick on the ground in every color of the rainbow around here. Of course, that's just our Motor City Myopia creeping in, as the first customer deliveries from the automaker's famed Bowling Green, Kentucky facility are actually just now getting underway.
Thus far, Chevrolet says it has built around 1,000 Corvettes for retail sale, with most examples slated to arrive safely in their white prophylactic transport wrappers at dealers nationwide in the next few weeks. If you're waiting for a droptop, find a comfy chair – Corvette Convertible production isn't slated to begin until the end of this year. If you live in colder climes, might we suggest you take delivery at your winter snowbird residence?
For those of you with orders in, VIN paperwork in hand and a glint in your eye, General Motors cautions that cars are being shipped out of build sequence, a fact it notes is normal during the start of production of any car. For the rest of you, well, you're a step closer to seeing the seventh-generation model on a street corner near you.
Chevrolet Begins Shipping 2014 Corvette Stingray
All-new Stingray Coupes rolling out of Bowling Green plant for dealers nationwide
2013-09-18
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Chevrolet today began shipping the all-new 2014 Corvette Stingray Coupe to dealers.
"It's an amazing sight to see the transporters filled with Stingrays heading to customers in all corners of the country," said Dave Tatman, plant manager of General Motors' Bowling Green Assembly plant. "The pride at Bowling Green is overwhelming and it shows in the tremendous quality and attention to detail going into each one of these new Corvettes."
Bowling Green Assembly has produced approximately 1,000 Corvette Stingrays for customer deliveries. Most of these vehicles are expected to be delivered to dealers within the next few weeks. To expedite delivery, vehicles may be shipped out of build sequence, which is a normal part of any new vehicle launch.
The Bowling Green facility underwent a $131-million upgrade to support production of the Corvette Stingray, including approximately $52 million for a new body shop to manufacture the car's all-new aluminum frame in-house for the first time.
The lightweight aluminum frame is the foundation for the most powerful standard Corvette ever, with an SAE-certified 455 horsepower (339 kW) and 460 lb-ft of torque (624 Nm) – and 460 horsepower (343 kW) and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) with the available performance exhaust system. It is also the most capable standard Corvette ever, with Z51-equipped models able to sprint from 0 to 60 in 3.8 seconds, run the quarter-mile in 12 seconds at 119 mph, achieve 1.03g in cornering grip and stop from 60 mph in 107 feet.
Complementing its performance capability with efficiency, the Corvette Stingray delivers the best fuel economy of any sports car on the market – an EPA-estimated 17 mpg in city driving and 29 mpg on the highway. No other car offers more than 455 horsepower and greater than 29 mpg on the highway.
The 2014 Corvette Stingray is the seventh generation of the sports car, which has been built exclusively at the Bowling Green plant since June 1981.
Pricing for the 2014 Corvette Stingray Coupe starts at $51,995 including destination. The Convertible is priced at $56,995 including destination. Production of the Stingray Convertible will begin by the end of this year.
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.5 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
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By Chris Paukert