Ready at Last: Chevrolet Ships New 2014 Corvettes

For the gotta-be-first crowd, Chevrolet announced Wednesday it has begun shipping the new 2014 Corvette Stingray to dealers.

Among the things that General Motors has done well lately, building the hoopla and anticipation for the new Corvette has been in the forefront. The new seventh-generation Corvette is vastly different than the one it replaces -- completely updated, with a much improved interior -- and the early ones are almost certainly all being claimed by the 'Vette faithful.

The 455-horsepower sports car starts at $51,995 including destination fees. The convertible version starts at $56,995.

So far, GM says its Bowling Green, Ky., assembly plant has churned out about 1,000 Corvette Stingrays. Most of these vehicles are expected to be delivered to dealers within the next few weeks, where we imagine they won't stay long before buyers snap them up.

"It's an amazing sight to see the transporters filled with Stingrays heading to customers in all corners of the country," says Dave Tatman, plant manager of General Motors' Bowling Green Assembly plant, in a statement. "The pride at Bowling Green is overwhelming."

To get ready, GM put its Bowling Green plant thorough a $131 million upgrade. Of that, about $52 million was funneled into the shop that makes the car's new light-but-strong aluminum frame.

Chevrolet Seeks Younger Buyers for NEW Corvette [VIDEO]

Updated looks and better performance will be the draw against Germany's best!

How good can life be?

Just remove the hardtop roof panel of a new Corvette Stingray, punch the accelerator to fully absorb the reassuring rumble of its V-8 and feel the wind in your hair. You may find the answer.

Chevrolet has completely updated its famous sports car in a bid for more respect among world-class sports cars, and with an eye to attracting new and younger fans and buyers. The 2014 Corvette aims valiantly to shed an image of being the embodiment of the Ugly American — powerful yet unrefined and fat.

The Corvette's new cockpit makes full use of real stuff — leather, carbon-fiber accents and aluminum — in contrast to a sea of plastic that marked the outgoing model. At 460 horsepower, the 6.2-liter V-8 with the performance exhaust system has 25 more ponies than the engine it replaces, yet is powerful, smooth and more efficient. On undulating roads near Monterey, Calif., Corvette is fun and confident, planting itself firmly in even the tightest curves.

The whole package is good enough that for the seventh generation of the car since Corvette rolled out in 1953, Chevrolet is declaring war anew on Porsche and other European sports cars. In the process, it also is taking dead aim at younger, affluent driving enthusiasts who may have written off Corvette as their dad's plaything.

The average age of a buyer of the current Corvette has been climbing each year and now is in the high 50s. It wants more of the upwardly mobile buyers in their 40s and even younger looking to reward themselves. Plus, Corvette attracts more blue-collar customers than other sports car brands. Nothing wrong with that, but it does mean that more buyers have to stretch their budgets for one. General Motors wouldn't mind having more fans rich enough to pick up a sports car on a whim, and take the top of the line.

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2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will have supercar-slaying performance with HPE1000 Twin Turbo upgrade

Tuning powerhouse Hennessey is getting the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ready for a complete makeover, even before the all-American sports car hits dealerships later this year. The completely revamped C7 Corvette will be available with upwards of 1,000 horsepower, thanks to Hennessey’s tire-melting twin-turbo upgrade package.

Hennessey has a very nice habit of making some extremely quick machinery. The Texas-based tuning firm’s wildest creation, the Venom GT, delivers Bugatti-rivaling performance thanks to its 1,200-hp engine and a top speed of more than 260 mph.

Now, Hennessey is turning its attention to the brand new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. This entirely new ‘Vette hasn’t even arrived at dealerships, but it’s already getting prepped for some outrageous performance upgrades.

The most powerful and extensive is Hennessey’s HPE1000 Twin Turbo upgrade, which endows the Corvette with roughly 1,000-hp. That’s more than double the car’s stock power output, and it should be enough to let the Chevy sports car challenge the world’s best supercars.

As you’d expect, the bulk of modifications are centered on the Corvette’s powertrain. In addition to being fitted with twin ball bearing turbochargers, Hennessey has added dual wastegates, an air-to-air intercooler, forged aluminum pistons, high flow cylinder heads, custom camshafts and an electronic boost controller.

We could go on, but you get the point.

Externally, the HPE1000 Twin Turbo doesn’t look dramatically different from the stock Corvette Stingray – though we’re certain this could change at the whim of a Hennessey customer. Hennessey alloy wheels, and relatively subtle carbon-fiber aerodynamic additions (including a revised front splitter and rear spoiler) constitute the bulk of exterior modifications.

Sales are expected right around the time the 2014 Corvette Stingray arrives this fall.

Chevrolet Announces 0-60 Time for 2014 Corvette Stingray

Three point eight seconds. It’s the latest morsel of information Chevrolet has released regarding its highly anticipated 2014 Corvette Stingray.

The automaker announced Thursday that the seventh-generation Corvette will do zero-60 mph in 3.8 seconds when equipped with the optional Z51 Performance Package. The quarter-mile disappears in 12 seconds at 119 mph, and the car is capable of 1.03 Gs of face-stretching lateral acceleration.

The Z51 package includes an electronic limited-slip differential, special cooling systems for the brakes, rear differential, and transmission, and an aero package that helps high-speed stability.

The package adds $2,800 to the $51,995 base price of the 2014 Corvette.

To demonstrate the car’s track-worthiness, Chevrolet took a mostly stock Stingray with this package and the $1,795 Magnetic Ride Control suspension, to the Virginia International Raceway.

There, the 2014 Corvette Stingray completed the 4.2-mile course in 2:51.78. This, in a car modified with only a five-point racing harness and race seats, according to Chevrolet spokesman Monte Doran.

To put that number into context, in 2012, Car and Driver magazine ran a 2:55.1 lap around the same course in the 552-horsepower Lexus LFA -- which sells for more than $400,000.

The Corvette’s much more modest asking price and its considerably lower power output highlight the handling prowess of Chevrolet’s latest sports car.

Propelling the 2014 Corvette Stingray -- and its convertible counterpart -- is a direct-injected 6.2-liter V-8 engine that cranks out 455 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. An optional exhaust system will bump each of those figures up by five.

The 2014 Corvette pushes power to the rear wheels via a seven-speed manual transmission with automatic rev-matching, or a six-speed automatic gearbox.

Standard equipment on all C7 models includes a carbon-fiber hood and carbon-fiber removable roof panel (on the coupe), an eight-inch touch-screen infotainment system with nine-speaker Bose stereo, Sirius satellite radio and Bluetooth connectivity, LED daytime running lights and eight-way power seats.

Chevrolet said the Corvette Stingray will start arriving in dealerships in September! 

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