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How many electrified Chevy Corvettes does the world need? How many can the lineup sustain? That’s what I asked the man in charge of the iconic nameplate.
On the latest episode of The Drivecast, Tony Roma, who is now the Executive Chief Engineer for the Chevy Corvette and Performance Cars at General Motors, told The Drive when asked whether a Corvette Z06X makes sense, “I think it could make sense.”
Listen below to the moment Roma addresses the idea of a Corvette Z06X.
Take a lap of the Internet and it’s not hard to find chatter and rumors about a Z06X. Roma said, “It is something that has taken on a life of its own on the internet and at public events that I go to. I think it could make sense. Certainly, we could put those pieces together and make that.”
The idea all started because of the fact that C8 Corvettes all have an open cavity up front between the wheels where an electric motor can mount. This existed since day one when the Stingray was introduced, and it was apparent an electric motor would be placed there for what later became the ZR1, though at the time the world believed the model would be called the Zora.
Roma explained, “All I’ll say is, it’s been a fascinating journey we’ve been on when we introduced the electric all-wheel drive system on the E-Ray years ago, and a lot of people thought it needed a plug and all that stuff we went through, and it’s been well received. The people that have those cars love them. And then, of course, we always had the ZR1X in mind when we did the E-Ray, and just the performance that it gave the car, the attributes that it brings, all the crazy things we’ve been able to do with the Nürburgring and Pikes Peak earlier this year, and the lap records we’ve been setting. The car is just phenomenal to drive: 8.67 in the quarter-mile, just silly numbers it puts up. So, honestly, that’s what we had thought about and architected for this.”
Continuing, Roma said, “The idea of putting the LT6 and the electrification together, not knowing how well this was all going to be received—it’s a fairly expensive option, and so on and so forth. So, to answer your question in a hypothetical, yeah, sure, I think we could certainly do that. Obviously, you predicted my answer is I’ve got nothing to announce today.”
But if the Z06X did come into existence it would be real expensive. Roma explained, “But I think as far as ‘could we do it,’ yes. I always turn the question around on customers when they ask me: would they buy one? Would they want to pay that kind of money? It would have to end up being almost ZR1 money for a car with a different kind of performance envelope, right?”
For reference, the Corvette ZR1 costs about $200,000 while the Z06 costs just over $120,000.
Roma expanded by saying, “A lot of what we run into on Corvette is there’s a lot of great ideas, and every space in the sports car market is covered by a sub-model on one of my competitors, right? And so, it’s definitely a situation of we can do anything, just not everything. So, we try and pick the high-value targets, make good business sense for us, and make great cars that our customers are going to enjoy.”
Never saying no, Roma ended the topic by saying, “So, who knows? Maybe in the future, we’ll decide that’s an entry worthy of the investment, but right now, yeah.”
So you’re saying there’s a chance.
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As Director of Content and Product, Joel draws on over 15 years of newsroom experience and inability to actually stop working to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media. He’s also a World Car Award juror.
