At first glance, the eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette doesn’t seem to share much with the original other than its name. Consider: the current ZR1X, for example, parks its mighty V8 behind the driver, where it delivers 1,250 horsepower and 0-60 sprint times of 1.89 seconds with a hybrid system. And top speed is expected to match that of the non-hybrid ZR1 at 230 mph (373 km/h). Meanwhile, the 1953 Corvette has a 150-hp Blue Flame Six engine up front, good for an 11.5-second jaunt to 60 mph and a top speed a few ticks north of 105 mph.
But what the two ‘Vettes do have in common is the fact that they only offer automatic transmissions. The first Corvette with a manual transmission was the 1955 edition, and the last – until now anyway – was the 2019 Stingray, which was on display at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Chevrolet points to a lack of customer interest as a reason for ditching the manual transmission in the C8, noting that the take-up rate for the drive-your-own gearbox has fallen from about 50% in 2014, the C7 Corvette’s first year, to about 20% in its final year, 2019. Now, there may be a number of factors that have driven down demand, but it undoubtedly helps that the current crop of high-tech automatic transmissions are moving through the gears more quickly switches more than a human can. Keep in mind that driving a stick shift teaches you things that you don’t learn from car stalls, no matter how fast they are.
The manual C7 museum piece
The Corvette Museum took delivery of that last manual-equipped model on November 20, 2019, and what it got was a Stingray 2LT coupe with the optional Z51 suspension package and traditional exterior trim. That means that, like the original 1953 Corvettes, it had a white exterior over a red cab.
Under the hood, the 2019 Stingray had a 6.2-liter LT1 V8 that produced 460 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque with the Z51 upgrade on board, and that mill was mated to a seven-speed manual transmission with active revs. Interestingly enough, and as evidence of the rise of the automatic transmission in the ‘Vette, the brochure only lists a 0-60 time for the optional eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters (3.7 seconds) and not for the manual.
Next, let’s go inside. Here, the driver-focused 2LT cockpit enhances the ownership experience with luxury features like heated/ventilated leather front seats with power side bolsters and lumbar adjustment to keep you comfortable as you push the Corvette to its limits – including, for the curious, the ability to pull more than 1g on the skidpad with its Z51 suspension. The infotainment package is fresh enough to come with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and an 8-inch touchscreen, although the Stingray’s only ADAS features were standard and optional front and rear cameras.
Perhaps even more remarkable was how little money was spent to make the C7 Corvette a success. GM spent virtually nothing to develop the car, relying on a $270 million development budget for the car. Sure, that’s a lot of money to you and me, but the General invested more than $500 million just to move Chevy Cruze production to the US in 2008.
A Brief History of Corvette Manual Transmissions
As mentioned, a three-speed manual transmission was first added to the Corvette option list in 1955, about the same time the car welcomed its first V8. Displacing 265 cubic inches (about 4.3 liters), the engine experienced a 25% increase in horsepower to 195 ponies. Drivers also got some extra fun, as the new three-speed V8 powertrain shaved more than two seconds off its 0-60 runs and boosted top speed to 124 mph. Later in the C1’s life cycle, a small series of cars with a four-speed manual transmission were produced.
It set the Corvette on the path to even more manual power, with the C2 Corvette being a prime example. The car premiered in 1963 with a 250-horsepower small-block Chevy V8 and was available in this generation with three- and four-speed manual transmissions, along with the special Chevy Powerglide automatic transmission. The third generation Corvette continued with two similar manual transmissions – and a new three-speed Powerglide automatic – and the latter marked the beginning of the end for manual Corvettes. The C3 Corvette was the first in which automatics surpassed manuals (aside from the C1 Corvettes which were not available with a manual), and the 1982 Collector’s Edition offered no DIY setup at all.
No Corvette ever had a five-speed manual transmission, but later C4s had a six-speed transmission when they arrived in 1989, and in 2014 the C7 added a cog for a manual transmission with seven forward speeds. It’s further worth noting that you can get a six-speed manual transmission for your C8 from Tremec – you just have to install it yourself.
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