Image generated by Keith Cornett using Grok
The end of the year is always a great time of reflection as we look back to assess the top stories of 2024. For Corvette enthusiasts, we had a number of important stories that broke throughout 2024, and working with our friends at the CORVETTE TODAY Podcast, we came up with a list of the top stories, as well as racing, rumors, and some of the fun stuff which happened in the year. You can hear that full podcast which airs on Monday, January 6th.
For this blog post, we are sharing our Top Five biggest Corvette stories impacting the Corvette Nation in 2024. Each of these will be accompanied with links to our original blog post on the topic, and the stories were selected based on importance, and not just page views.
1. Corvette Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter Announces His Retirement from GM; Tony Roma Named as his Replacement
Photo Credit: General Motors
I think it goes without saying that the biggest Corvette story of the year was the retirement of Executive Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter. At 67 years old, Tadge spent 47 years at GM, and he got his shot with the Corvette Team in 1993. In 1999, he was named the assistant chief engineer before officially assuming the Executive Chief Engineer title in 2006. The C8 Corvette is without a doubt his crowning achievement as the Corvette was changed to a mid-engine configuration, something that Zora Arkus Duntov championed as far back as the 1950s. And of course, he went out on a high note following the reveal of the 1,064 hp 2025 Corvette ZR1. That’s how you drop a mic on a 47-year career!
Those were some big shoes to fill, and GM named Tony Roma who was Chief Engineer for the Cadillac CELESTIQ, as Executive Chief Engineer for the newly formed Global Corvette and Performance Cars team. During his 30 years at GM, Tony has spent time working on Corvettes and numerous Cadillacs including CTS, ATS and CELESTIQ. His work on the V-Series and then the Cadillac Blackwing made him a natural fit for the position. Roma is also a GM Level 6 Driver who has logged more than 1,500 laps at the Nürburgring and still races today.
2. The 2025 Corvette ZR1 is Revealed
Photo Credit: Chevrolet
Chevrolet revealed “The Unthinkable” 2025 Corvette ZR1 during a live event in Miami in July 2024. The new C8 ZR1 shocked the Corvette Nation with its 1,064 horsepower and 828 foot-pounds of torque. The engine making it happen is called the LS7 – a 5.5-liter flat-plane crank engine that was developed in tandem with the Z06s LT6. Where the LT6 is naturally aspirated, the LT7 in the ZR1 uses two 72mm turbos creatively housed in the exhaust manifolds to reduce lag. Everything on the engine was hardened for the high powered sports car, and test drivers told us how easily it was to get to 215 mph.
Later in 2024, Chevrolet released the news that the car had been tested at ATP Papenburg in Germany where GM President Mark Reuss set the top speed at 233 MPH. And just two weeks ago, the full performance specs were released showing the car is capable of 0-60 MPH in 2.3 seconds, and can run the quarter mile in 9.6 seconds at 150 MPH, making the 2025 Corvette ZR1 the quickest AND fastest Corvette ever produced!
3. The C8 Stingray Gets its First Financing Incentives from GM as Corvette Inventories Exploded
With the C8 Corvette in its fifth year of production, GM offered its first ever financing incentives on the 2024 Corvettes with a special financing rate of 7.49% financing for 72 months while also offering a cash rebate to current Camaro owners. Granted these aren’t really great incentives, but they are baby steps taken by GM towards what will hopefully be a larger cash rebate or a much lower rate for financing in 2025.
You could also call 2024 the year that dealers started seriously discounting their full range of Corvettes as inventories stacked up and sales began slowing. At the end of the year, we had dealers discounting Stingrays up to 15% off MSRP, and with many also having an inventory of Z06s, those were being discounted upwards of $10,000 or more as well.
And finally, we saw dealer inventories grow during the year. A look at the Chevrolet live inventory tracker in August showed 3,888 Corvettes on the ground. In December, that number had swelled to 6,646 Corvettes. It took five years, but finally we have a buyers market for Corvettes. It will be interesting to see how Chevy responds for 2025.
4. Chevrolet Retires 7 Colors at the end of the 2024 Model Year
Photo Credit: Keith Cornett
We are used to seeing two, maybe three exterior color changes during a model year changeover, but Chevrolet retired a whopping 7 colors in 2024 that included some popular shades. We did get three new colors, but ended up with just 10 exterior colors for 2025 instead of 14 like we had in 2023. Those colors that were discontinued were:
• Accelerate Yellow
• Amplify Orange
• Carbon Flash Metallic
• Silver Flare
• Hypersonic Gray
• Ceramic Matrix Gray
• Cacti
For the 2025 model year, Chevrolet announced three new colors with them being Competition Yellow, Hysteria Purple Metallic (my favorite), and also coming back was Sebring Orange, which first debuted on the 2019 Corvette and was the signature color for the 2019 ZR1. Sebring Orange Metallic was also carried over to the 2020 and 2021 models years before being replaced by Amplify Orange in 2022.
GM says that by reducing color choices, it helps to simplify the production process. However it does leave the opening for the ZR1 to have an exclusive color which is something that we would love to see.
5. GM Offers Reimbursement for Cracked Wheels on the C7 Z06 and Grand Sport
This was a longtime coming and it took several class-action lawsuits before GM finally acknowledged the cracked wheels on the C7 Corvette Grand Sport and Z06s. GM is still not taking responsibility for the manufacture of these inferior wheels, however, it looks like they are offering a way for those customers who were impacted to possibly make a new claim for reimbursement against this program.
Owners will have to submit proof of payment and it depends on whether the owners took their wheels for repair or replacement at a GM authorized dealer. So there are hoops to jump through. Remember, the deadline to submit for this reimbursement is January 25, 2025! That’s just a few weeks away so don’t miss out if you can bring the receipts!
After reviewing our list, we believe that 2024 was a fairly consequential year for America’s Favorite Sports Car. What do you think of our list and is there any big stories that you think should have been included? Let us know in the comments below!
Related:
GM Names Tony Roma to Lead Corvette and Performance Cars As Tadge Juechter Retires
[VIDEO] The 2025 Corvette ZR1’s Official Top Speed is 233 MPH!
GM is Offering Reimbursement for C7 Grand Sport and Z06 Owners who Fixed their Cracked Wheels
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