Exploring the Trims, Colors, & Options of the First 550 Corvette C8 VINs

Chevy salesman and YouTuber Mike Davenport delivers all the goods on the first C8 Corvettes slated for production, including No. 001.

The wait is over: the first mid-engine, eighth-generation Corvette is in production. They’ll soon picked up by their first owners for the great adventures ahead.

Recently, a YouTuber and Chevy salesman in Louisville, Kentucky, Mike Davenport (a.k.a., Chevy Dude) presented the details of the first 444 cars headed for production right now. Let’s find out what he learned.

The Tale of the C8 Corvette

“There is 550 VINs currently scheduled right now to build,” said Davenport, who works at Bachman Chevrolet in Louisville’s East End. “What’s interesting is they skip a lot of numbers. So, there’s actually only 444 cars being built, but they’ve used 550 VINs.”

Among the 444 Corvettes on the assembly line, Davenport says one is the base 1LT model. The rest include 145 2LT and 298 3LTs units. Thirty-six will be picked up at the National Corvette Museum. Davenport says he’s not happy with the low number; he supports museum delivery. His car will not be among them, though, as he supports the NCM in other ways.

“Let’s talk about colors,” said Davenport. “One of them makes me a little upset.”

The color is Rapid Blue, a color Davenport and a few other YouTubers wanted. Only one will have it.

Among the rest of the colors on the line, 50 wear Sebring Orange, and 107 rock Arctic White. Additionally, 51 Corvettes come in Ceramic Matrix Gray, 81 dress in black. Forty-nine dazzle in Shadow Gray, and 102 lay it out in red. Finally, two silver and one yellow are in the mix, though Davenport says those are likely going to General Motors.

Davenport says 402 Corvettes have the Z51 performance package. In addition, 357 of those have the new magnetic ride control suspension. Finally, 360 have the front-lift system, handy for protecting the front end.

“Let’s go [look at the] appearance package,” Davenport said. “That got 277 builds. [The] carbon mirrors, 188– that turns your mirrors to carbon flash, and your spoiler carbon flash.”

Davenport found 39 builds have the chrome badges over the standard black units; he figured few would opt for chrome. Twenty-five opted for the high rear wing to match their car’s color, 44 chose carbon flash metallic.

Silver or Black?

On the road, 146 Corvettes will roll upon the standard five-spoke silver wheels, a number Davenport thought was high. Meanwhile, 197 chose black carbon-flash painted alloys — including Davenport. Moreover, 58 went with sterling silver trident wheels, and 44 chose Spectra Gray tridents.

Lastly, 73 chose the black tridents — including Davenport. The black tridents are accessory wheels to the originals; thus, a total 518 sets of wheels will find their way onto the 444 ‘Vettes. The only option not chosen was the Pewter Gray five-spoke wheels.

“Let’s talk about seat belts,” said Davenport. “Black, 284, 200 more than half of the cars are gonna stick with the standard seat belt. Orange seat belts, 18. Tan seat belts, 14. Blue– I’m shocked about this blue! Attention Blue is an amazing color, only 11 cars. Red seat belts are really really popular, 106. And yellow seat belts, those would be only 11 units out of that first 550 VINs.”

For the seats, 53 picked the GT1 seats, 333 chose the GT2s, and 58 opted for the Competition units. Davenport adds the GT2 seats “aren’t much of an upgrade,” as most of the 333 cars are the 3LT cars.

Though 444 are on or soon heading to the line, Davenport had the MSRP on 397 of the Corvettes. The average MSRP paid was $84,813, adding up to $33.7 million for General Motors. The lowest MSRP paid was $66,990 for No. 239, one of the 36 heading to the museum. The highest was $101,250 for No. 013.

No. 001 and Other Firsts

“All of these cars have targeted production week on or before this 10th of February,” said Davenport. “That’s just two weeks that they’re gonna build 444 cars, with the exception of six units out there that are being built past that.”

No. 001, bought by NASCAR legend Rick Hendrick for $3 million at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in early January, was among the six. Though scheduled for February 10, Davenport later learned it left the line on February 3.

Seventeen people paid an extra $5,000 to choose their VIN, including Davenport, who chose No. 012. Numbers 006, 011, 013, 014, 016, 018, 019, 020, 023, 027, 066, 070, 093, 239, 256, and 285 were also chosen by their respective owners.

Among the firsts, No. 076 is the first with orange seat belts. No. 060 is the first with tan belts, No. 011 is the first with blue, and No. 001 is the first with red belts. Finally, the first car to the NCM is No. 005.

Photos: Chevrolet; Facebook/Barrett-Jackson

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