The Corvette’s order guide has never been this crowded. Six distinct variants are now available to configure for the 2027 model year, starting with the LS6-engined Stingray. At the other end of the spectrum, the ZR1 with the electrified front axle of the Grand Sport X is known as the ZR1X and starts at $227,800 before DFC.
One cell in the matrix sits empty, though, and that cell is the Z06X. As per Corvette chief engineer Tony Roma, such a car would make sense only if priced similarly to the already expensive ZR1. As of this writing, the non-hybrid twin of the ZR1X will set you back a cool $198,000 sans destination freight charge.
Roma spent an hour on The Drivecast answering a question that certain Corvette enthusiasts have already settled in their own heads. Roma claims that his team at General Motors could easily put the pieces together to deliver the Z06X, but alas, the company is not committed to making it happen anytime soon.
Every C8-generation Corvette carries an open cavity between the front wheels, a bay GM has filled since the E-Ray came to be with the LT2 small block of the Stingray and an electrified front axle that was later transplanted into the ZR1X. What used to be the central tunnel on C7- and previous-gen Corvettes serves as the home of the high-voltage battery in the 2027 model year Grand Sport X (which replaces the E-Ray) and the ZR1X.
Swapping in the Grand Sport X’s 6.7-liter small block for the flat-plane engine of the Z06 would result in a parts-bin maximum output in the neighborhood of 860 horsepower, putting the Z06X slightly above the 721-pony Grand Sport X in the range. Tony Roma’s hesitation in regard to the Z06X is best viewed as financial rather than theoretical, yet his math doesn’t add up.
Photo: General Motors
“It would have to end up being almost ZR1 money,” he said on The Drivecast. Let’s dig in a little first. As opposed to $198,000 from the outset for the combustion-only ZR1, the ZR1X is $29,800 pricier. Similarly, the Grand Sport X is $110,000 before taxes and options, making it $23,700 more expensive than the gas-only Grand Sport.
Given that a brand-new Z06 presently retails at $121,800 in the Detroit-based automaker’s home market, the Z06X would theoretically be no more than $30,000 pricier, landing in at $151,800 before anything instead of nearly $200,000 for the ZR1. That’s nearly fifty grand off Roma’s estimate, but alas, we’re not the peeps in charge of pricing at GM.
The gap, however, does have reasons. An electrified Z06 would be a properly niche low-volume special, and amortizing development costs over a thin pool is the main reason why our crude match does not make financial sense to General Motors. Parking it near the ZR1 would also trigger the effect Porsche exploited with the 992.1-phase 911 Turbo S and Turbo.
While the gap between the Turbo S and Turbo runs thin, buyers are willing to spend extra for the S version, making the plain one an easy allocation. Pricing the Z06X in ZR1 territory would result in two Corvette models battling for the same customer, hurting each other in the process.
“Maybe in the future, we’ll decide that [Z06X] is an entry worthy of the investment,” concluded Roma about the oft-rumored Z06 with electrified all-wheel drive.
