2011 Corvette Color Palette Drops from 10 to 7 With New Restrictions!

Introducing Corvette Exclusive Customer's Selectable VIN Ending Option - RPO: PIN

As many of you already know, Corvette customers are unique automobile aficionados who seek to differentiate and personalize their specific Corvette model. Chevrolet feels it is important to offer a wide variety of accessories and personalization options for customers to accomplish this goal. Examples of this include the option to take delivery through the National Corvette Museum, or the opportunity to produce their Corvette Z06 or ZR1 engine through the Corvette Engine Build Experience.

These options have proven to be very popular, but some customers have expressed a desire to have a unique ending number assigned to their Corvette's Vehicle Identification Number. For example, a customer may have a classic 1963 Corvette with a VIN ending in 1400, and seeks a new Corvette with the same matching VIN ending number. Up to this point, the VIN assignment for a customer's new Corvette would have been a random process; but under a new program called Customer's Selectable VIN Ending Option, customer can request a specific VIN ending number for their new production vehicle as long as the request falls within Corvette's natural production sequence.

Similar to the Corvette Engine Build Experience (RPO: PBC), dealers who submit a customer sold order with RPO: PIN will be contacted by the Corvette Concierge. The concierge will collect the customer information and the requested VIN ending number. The concierge will then pass the information over to Chevrolet to determine whether the request can be honored within the appropriate production timing. If it is determined the request can be honored, the concierge will confirm the information with the dealer, and the order will proceed through production. When the vehicle is produced, the invoice will include a Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $5000 for the Customer's Selectable VIN Ending Option (RPO: PIN).

If the request CANNOT be honored, the RPO: PIN will be removed from the order, and the dealer and customer will have the option to cancel the order or proceed with the order's production with a naturally-selected sequenced VIN ending assignment.

It is important to note that selecting the RPO: PIN will not cause an order to be expedited or produced out of the normal production sequencing process. If the customer and dealer agree to the specific VIN ending, the vehicle will incur the $5000 MSRP charge regardless of whether the transaction between the customer and dealer is completed.

Obviously, this program is designed for the ultimate Corvette enthusiast who wishes to take personalization to another level.

DETROIT – Chevrolet announced this week that U.S. customers who purchase any model of a new Corvette through February 28 can receive free tuition at either of the two official Corvette driving schools.

This unique benefit marks the upcoming Corvette Racing season in the American LeMans Series, and adds to an unmatched set of experiences available to Corvette owners. 

Until now, the Corvette Driving School offer has been a benefit limited to the purchase of the exclusive Corvette ZR1 “supercar” model. For a limited time, it is available to buyers of any new Corvette model, from the Coupe and Convertible, to the Grand Sport and Z06 models.

Chevrolet’s official driving schools are the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving near Phoenix and the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch outside Las Vegas.

“This special offer extends an exclusive piece of the Corvette driving experience to new owners,” says Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports. “Corvette owners have experiences open to them unlike any others, from touring the plant and National Corvette Museum, to advanced driver training, and even building their own engine.”

Buyers have one year from their delivery date to take advantage of the opportunity. Eligible customers are responsible for their own accommodations and travel, but receive access to the schools and two-day tuition for free. Customers who purchase a new Corvette ZR1 model during the program period will receive an additional third day of tuition.

Corvette remains the segment leader in the “high-sport” segment of performance cars in the United States, adding 1.5 percentage points of market share against its direct rivals in 2010.

Production of the 2011 Corvette has started with cars already on the Kerbeck Lot so it time to look back at the final production statistics for the 2010 Corvette model year. The final count of Corvettes produced for MY 2010 is 12,194. That’s a decrease of 28.1% from 2009’s 16,956 production and a whopping 65.5% off the 35,310 Corvettes produced in 2008.

Many will make hay out of that decrease, saying its been almost 50 years (1961 – 10,939) since Corvettes were produced in so few numbers. You won’t find us complaining here as we believe 2010 was a banner year for Corvette which included the return of the Grand Sport and one of our favorite new options – launch control!

The Grand Sports were very popular in their inaugural year making up 49.6% of total Corvettes produced. The Grand Sport Coupe was the most popular model at 3,707 units (30.4%) while the regular Corvette Coupe was second at 3,054 units (25.1%). The Z06 was the least popular Corvette sold with just 518 units making up 4.3% of production. The ZR1 outsold the Z06 in its second year of production by 3 to 1. 1,577 supercharged Corvettes left Bowling Green for a total of 12.9% of Corvette production.

As far as colors, the most popular single color is Black at 24%. Torch Red is second with 18.4% and when combined with Crystal Red’s 14.1%, the two reds total 32.5%.

Other than colors, the numbers we received from GM were condensed into Coupe, Convertible, Z06/ZR1, although we are able to view certain model-specific RPOs like the Grand Sport’s Z51 or the 3ZR package for the ZR1.

Here are the 2010 Corvette Production Statistics from GM:

Source:

Corvette Blogger
Bowling Green Assembly Plant
Photo Credit: CNET Networks

In commemorating the 50th anniversary of Corvette’s first class win at Le Mans, GM built a very special one of one tribute to the 1960 Briggs Cunningham Corvette. VIN #00001 shares the same exterior cues including the twin stipes over the hood, roof and trunk and the #3. A special graphic on the B-pillar features a 50th Anniversary logo and then dates 1960 and 2010.

We caught up with this car first on Thursday evening and promised to embargo these photos until after the unveiling. The Arctic White Corvette Z06 comes equipped with both the Z07 performance package and the CFZ black carbon fiber package. Unique is the side view mirrors painted in Cyber Gray instead of the Black that is comes on the Carbon edition. Those mirrors match the Cyber Gray wheels though so the combination of the two looks pretty cool.

Museum Director Wendell Strode said the Corvette would be used as a fundraiser for the NCM. Instead of a traditional raffle or no-reserve auction, the museum is looking for a tax deductible donation of $300,000 and then the donor can purchase the Corvette at the NCM’s cost which Wendell said would be around $85,000.

On Saturday morning at the Corvette Museum’s C5/C6 Bash, Corvettes at Carlisle’s Lance Miller will be hosting a siminar at the NCM on the 1960 Briggs Cunningham Corvette and his plans to take it back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year for the the 50th Anniversary of its historic class win.

Thanks to Keith at CorvetteBlogger.com for the great info! 

This afternoon, GM’s Corvette Team presented the new 2011 Corvette to several hundred owners and enthusiasts at the Corvette Museum’s C5/C6 Bash in Bowling Green. One of the themes for the 2011 rollout is that Corvette buyers will have more choices than ever to personalize their Corvettes inside and out with a host of new options. Previous options that were restricted to certain models like Magnetic Selective Ride Control are also being made available on all models.

In 2011, Corvette buyers will get to choose from 10 exterior colors – the most since the C4 was being produced. All eight colors from 2010 are returning and the two new colors, Interno Orange and Supersonic Blue, will be available on all Corvette models. One new option for 2011 is that buyers will be able to select a contrasting headlamp color which will be available in Cyber Gray, Black and Blade Silver.

The last few special edititon Corvettes including the Carbon and last year’s GT1 Championship Editions featured a custom color stiching option throughout the interior. This will be available on 2011 4LT, 3LZ and 3ZR option groups. The colors offered are Blue, Red or Yellow stiching.

Coupe and Convertible buyers get a new wheel design available in four styles. The styles are Silver, Competition Gray, Chrome and the new Machine face which is shown above. Standard Coupe and Convertible buyers can also order the crossed-drilled brake option that was available as part last year’s Z51 option.

Harlan spent time discussing are two new Six-Speed Paddle Shift features. Drivers can easily switch from paddle driving to automatic. To do so, drivers hold the “+” paddle for one second to return to auto mode. The seconbde feature is one that allows the driver to override the gear selection while in Drive Mode. The example was a driver merging onto a highway and downshifts to merge. The auto mode takes over after paddles are not used for 10 seconds.

Other Updates for the 2011 Corvette:

• Grand Sport available with F55 Magnetic Selective Ride Control – Includes Gen 2 tire with manual transmission
• Magnetic Selective Ride Control is available on all Corvette models for the first time
• USB port and input jack included with U3U Navigation System
• Dual Steering mode – Standard or performance modes
• Battery maintainer for those that only drive their Corvettes occassionally.

In terms of “big” news for the 2011 Corvette Z06, that cat was let out of the bag last month in Sebring with the introduction of the Z06 Carbon and the associated Z07 and CFZ packages. Tadge alluded to 2011 being the year of the Z06 as 2011 features a number of options and upgrades.

Now standard on the 2011 Corvette Z06 is the new Goodyear F1 Supercar Generation 2 Tires, an aggressive dual mode exhaust featuring a updated tune and Carbon cone synchros in the transmission.

For a refresher, here are the two option packages that mostly make up the Carbon edition:

CFZ – Black Carbon Fiber Package

• Black painted Carbon Fiber front splitter
• Black painted Carbon Fiber side rockers
• Black painted Carbon Fiber roof (saves 6-spounds)
• Body Color ZR1 style rear spoiler

Z07 Performance Package

• Brembo carbon ceramic brake system
• 20 spoke competition Gray Wheels, 19×10″ Front and 20×12″ Rear
• Michelin PS2 Tires: 285/30-19 Front and 335/25-20 Rear
• Magnetic Selective Ride Control

Overall, most of the owners that we talked with are positive to the changes and the examples we saw illustrate GM’s ability to listen to their owners wants and make them happen. We’ll be uploading some video of the 2011 rollout over the next few days so stay tuned!

Thanks to Keith from CorvetteBlogger.com for a great report!

The 2011 Corvette Order Guide is not available for download.  Click to open the PDF so you can see all of the changes for 2011 Corvettes.  We'll have more info to come!

 2011 Corvette Order Guide

The 2009 Corvette GT1 Championship Edition and the Competition Sport Edition will both have very limited availability.

You can get more info on the GT1 Championship Edition Corvette and the Competion Sport Edition Corvette here.

Please contact me soon if you have any interest in one of these two limited edition models.

Dave Salvatore Corvette Manager