CarBrandLogos archive · Chevrolet Corvette · 2014

Chevrolet CorvetteCorvette C7

The Stingray name returned, and so did an interior worth sitting in.

Photo: Elise240SX · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Chevrolet Corvette history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Chevrolet Corvette Corvette C7, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

2014 Corvette Kalahari Interior at 2013 Detroit Auto Show

Origins

The seventh generation, launched for 2014, had a specific problem to solve. The C6 had been fast and capable and its cabin was widely derided as cheap — plastic mouldings and flat seats in a car being sold against Porsche. The C7 fixed it, with a properly designed interior, magnesium-framed seats and materials that no longer undermined the rest of the car.

2014 Corvette Kalahari Interior at 2013 Detroit Auto Show · Stardust1939 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

Mechanically it brought the LT1: a 6.2-litre pushrod V8 with direct injection, variable valve timing and cylinder deactivation, making 460 horsepower in its strongest road tune while returning respectable fuel economy. A seven-speed manual with automatic rev-matching was standard, later joined by an eight-speed automatic. The styling, under Hwasup Lee, was the most aggressive Corvette in decades, with squared-off tail lamps that split opinion sharply, and Chevrolet revived the Stingray name for the base car.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette · sarahlarson (Sarah Larson) at https://www.flickr.com/photos/larsonsa/ · CC BY 2.5

In production

The range escalated quickly. The 2015 Z06 used the supercharged LT4 and was the first Corvette to combine a supercharged engine with the option of an automatic and full aerodynamic bodywork; the 2019 ZR1 added the LT5, a larger supercharger and an optional high wing, and remains the most powerful front-engined Corvette ever built.

Chevrolet Corvette Corvette C7 · M 93 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Legacy

It was also the last of its kind. When production ended in 2019, the C8 moved the engine behind the driver, closing sixty-six years of front-engined Corvettes.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Engine

6.2&nbsp

Designer

Hwasup Lee

Body

2-door targa top coupe

Technical specification

The Corvette C7, in detail.

Production: September 2013 – July 2017 (due to temporary shutdown of plant) ; November 2017 – November 2019
Class: Sports car (S)
Body style: 2-door targa top coupe; 2-door convertible
Layout: Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine: 6.2 L LS based GM small-block engine#LT1; LT1 V8 ; 6.2 L LS based GM small-block engine#LT4; LT4 supercharged V8 (Z06) ; 6.2 L LS based GM small-block engine#LT5; LT5 supercharged V8 (ZR1)
Transmission: 7-speed Tremec Tremec TR-6070 transmission; TR-6070 manual transmission; manual ; 6-speed GM 6L80 transmission; GM 6L80 automatic transmission; automatic (2014) ; 8-speed GM 8L90 transmission; GM 8L90 automatic
Designer: Hwasup Lee
Assembly: United States: Bowling Green, Kentucky
Manufacturer: Chevrolet (General Motors)