Chevy Says Corvette ZR1 Still On Track, Despite Customer Concerns
There's a history here: General Motors hasn't had the most successful experience with C8 Corvettes and carbon fiber hardware. Back in 2020, Stingray buyers were frustrated to learn that the visible carbon ground effects option was being axed for the entire first model year. Similar visual carbon packages were an inconsistent issue for the Z06 and E-Ray up through last year. Unfortunately, fans allege the issue isn't totally solved yet as we approach the ZR1's start of production. That's a mite problematic, as the carbon fiber High Wing Package is fundamental to the ZR1's on-track capabilities.
The potential issues were first raised by the dedicated folks over at the Mid Engine Corvette Forum. Last week, a number of customers were notified that their order status had changed within GM's internal system to Status 3000, which denotes a car that has been accepted for production. This led to customers being contacted by the National Corvette Museum with details related to the optional special delivery program, as well as general dealer check-ins on the status of the cars. A number of customers went to the forum to spread word about the potential aero hangups, as dealers had informed them that the parts were constrained. There was understandable outcry from fans, with some forum users even claiming that they'd forgo their order without the aero package available.
Within a few days, however, all of those cars were placed back on Status 2000, code for when GM has accepted an order, but hasn't approved it for production just yet. Chevrolet spokesperson Trevor Thompkins claims that the status change was never intended to happen at that time, which is responsible for some of the confusion.
'There's definitely a lot of excitement and anticipation around this carbon aero package in general,' Thompkins told R&T. 'So we're doing everything that we can to be ready for start of production so that we can meet customer demands for it."
"And I know you're seeing some things out about the dealer order submission process and things like that. You know where the cars are at right now, at [status] 2000, that's where they're supposed to be. You may have seen some things about them jumping to [status] 3000 and coming back down. That was a glitch, essentially, in our system. So orders are where they're supposed to be. We have not started production, that's the most important part, but we're still on track for Q2, which is what we've been saying.'
Thanks to the team at CorvetteBlogger, we also know that GM at one point was targeting ZR1 production weeks in Bowling Green to start as of April 28. Following the status change back to 2000, the timeline was rolled back. The site's sources claim GM is delaying the start of production in an attempt to source more high wing, to meet customer demand.
'We keep our dealers up to date as best we can, and once there's additional updates and we're ready to start producing then, of course, our dealers will be the first to know, and they'll be able to work it through with their customers,' said Thompkins. 'But that'll come, in time, when we're ready to move toward that next step.'
For now, Chevrolet's official position is that everything is still on track with the ZR1. Here's hoping that the carbon fiber situation is something the team behind the Corvette can work out once and for all. In the meantime, if you happen to have a ZR1 order on the books, we'd love to hear how your experience has been, so feel free to reach out to us at pitches@roadandtrack.com or leave a comment below.
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