It’s been looked at as one of America’s dream muscle cars for the better part of 50 years, but until now if you wanted to buy a Chevrolet Corvette, you had to trust the engineers at General Motors to put the horsepower under the hood. Now, as a new marketing ploy, if not a nod to DIY enthusiasts everywhere, that’s all changing.
That’s right, for an additional $5,800 along with the MSRP of between $76,000 and $116,000 for the Z06 and zR1 models, Corvettte buyers can come to GM’s plant in Wixom, Mich. and hand assemble their own engine with guidance from company technicians. When the engine is complete, it gets a specialized nameplate and is then shipped to GM’s Bowling Green, Ky., plant to be placed in the customer’s new vehicle.
Now building a powerful, high performance mechanism like a Corvette engine isn’t like putting together a puzzle, so GM has offered the above video to illustrate its “Engine Build Experience.” Still people who own this particular make are among the most passionate of car owners, so the company is offering them more of what they want.
“In a way, this is a dream program for a Corvette customer. I would have jumped at the chance to build the 427 in my ’67 ’Vette, and that didn’t have half of what goes into one of these modern precision engines,” said Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman, Global Product Operations in a statement. “Today’s LS7 and LS9 Corvette engines are pinnacle achievements in engineering, and to personally involve our customers in their final creation shows the depth of Chevrolet’s commitment to make lasting connections with the customer.”