The Last C7

2019 Corvette ZR1 gets big power, big wing, and a ragtop.

- Alisa Priddle

The Corvette development team knew the 2019 ZR1 would have to be different. It was time to offer the King as a convertible, with an automatic transmission, and with more power, than anyone thought possible from a production pushrod V-8.

When the ZR1 goes on sale this spring, it will be available as a coupe or convertible. At the push of a button, the latter’s top falls in 21 seconds. You can still drive with your hair on fire, but there will be wind blowing through it, too. The latest and baddest C7 has an updated version of GM’s 6.2-liter supercharged small-block V-8, which generates 755 horsepower and 715 lb-ft of torque. It’s called LT5 even though it sticks with Corvette’s traditional pushrod setup with two valves per cylinder.

“After driving this around for a while, the Z06 feels really sluggish,” chief engineer Tadge Juechter said. That’s a nice exclamation point in the dying embers of C7 before the C8 goes mid-engine and DOHC. (Juechter wouldn’t confirm the C8 details; it’s just the worst-kept secret in GM’s hallways.)

The ZR1 is special. Not every generation gets one. The crown was applied to the third-generation Corvette in 1969, the C4 in 1990, and the C6 in 2009. This edition marks the first ZR1 convertible.