C8 Corvette Going for $160K Price Is Bonkers, Yet Nothing New
Naturally, Chevy’s C8 ‘Build & Price’ tool renders a 3LT with Z51 package and identical options for far less.
It’s no surprise the C8 was going to garner a dealer markup. Also not surprising, most all of the orders of the 2020 C8 were optioned in some way, and there exists nearly no bone-stock Corvette for this year. However, no one can argue that the rapidly changing economy which caused a premature halt of all 2020 Corvette production was, in fact, wholly out of left field. Regardless, someone charging a damn-well near $62,000 premium on a car under $100K in the midst of a global pandemic puts a special kind of frown on our faces.
Regardless of whether someone will actually pay this absurd amount for a C8 is actually beside the point. The real issue here is that out of the others selling Corvettes with ADM, this one, C8 No. 1G1Y82D48L5100061 from Silicon Auto Group, is particularly a head-scratcher compared to other VINs that actually cost less.
For what it is worth, we took the liberty of pricing our own Corvette with the exact same specifications. We got $92,875. It would be higher if were able to select the now-discontinued, $4850 Carbon Fiber Ground Effects package. Sure, this is no small chunk of change. And while we’ll reiterate that we completely expected the C8 to receive the same treatment as another American V8 titan, the C8 (at least for a short while for 2020) certainly has higher production numbers.
Nonetheless, this particular white-over-red 2020 Chevrolet Corvette 3LT Z51, despite its many add-ons, is not worth this much. It has an Adrenaline Red and Jet Black interior, Carbon Flash Metallic racing stripe, Engine Appearance Package, Front Lift Memory and a spare spoiler and spare set of wheels. It’s also got staggered, five-trident-spoke, black-painted-painted aluminum wheels, a Battery Protection Package, MagneRide, a Carbon Flash Metallic wing, red-painted brake calipers, a transparent roof panel and Carbon Flash Metallic painted side mirrors. As for the interior, it’s got Torch Red seat belts, two-tone seats and carbon fiber interior trim.
Don’t get us wrong, it is a stellar example of a bespoke sports car. And we get that dealerships need to make money, and that this particular climate is especially brutal on the bottom line for everyone right now. But this is obvious overkill, price-wise.
Here’s the description from the seller:
THE ALL NEW C8 CORVETTE IS SOLD OUT FOR 2020 AND 2021. SILICON HAS THE VEHICLE IN STOCK AND READY FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY. ONE OF A KIND 2020 CHEVY CORVETTE 6.2L 3LT Z51 PERFORMANCE PACKAGE Z51 PERFORMANCE BRAKES Z51 PERFORMANCE SUSPENSION PERFORMANCE EXHAUST PERFORMANCE REAR AXLE RATIO ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL Z51 REAR SPOILER HIGH PERFORMANCE MICHELIN TIRES RUN FLAT HEAVY DUTY COOLING SYSTEM VISIBLE CARBON FIBER GROUND EFFECTS 19 FRONT, 20 REAR 5 TRIDENT SPOKE BLACK PAINTED ALUMINUM MAGNETIC RIDE CONTROL INTERIOR TRIM CARBON FIBER CLUSTER SURROUND AND CONSOLE DOOR SWITCH PANELS FRONT LIFT ADJUSTABLE HEIGHT WITH MEMORY
Autoblog recently asked a Silicon Auto Group rep about this markup, and the person responded by saying, “I don’t really know how to answer that question.” They followed up by saying that they have “people to pay,” and that this is a “one-of-a-kind vehicle.”
We’re not going to speculate the dealer’s operational costs, as we have no insight on the matter and that simply isn’t our place, anyway. But we still have to wonder if they have actually looked at the other listings before doing this.
In all honesty, we don’t actually think they’ll move this car without at least a couple of price revisions. However, it will be very interesting what becomes of this.
Photos: Silicon Auto Group
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