Part of the Chevrolet Corvette’s beauty is that it’s insanely customizable just by running through the factory options list. From paint and trim to choosing your own VIN, the expansive options list means that the likelihood of two random Corvettes being alike is tiny. Thankfully, this level of personalization has been maintained for the insanely quick hybridized Corvette E-Ray, so I figured I’d pick out three very different specs for three very different people. Let’s begin.
I’ve Owned Every Generation Of Corvette Since The First One
You know the archetype — the retired guy in the jorts and dad-cap pulling up to cars and coffee in his low-mileage Corvette. He’s the type of person who’s had Corvettes forever, only taken them out on dry and sunny days, and uses his pride and joy primarily for parking lot shows and date nights. Corvette coddler is a fan of having all the bells and whistles, so let’s kick things off with the $122,245 3LZ Convertible. After all, the first Corvette was a drop-top, so why stop now?
For this type of guy, Corvettes are a dish best served red, so we’re going with Red Mist Metallic Tintcoat paint as it’s a bit more complex than the standard Torch Red. Plus, it matches nicely with available Edge Red brake calipers. Speaking of matching, how about a red interior? He’d likely avoid the dipped red interior as a little contrast helps, but there’s definitely rockstar appeal in red leather seats.
As for add-ons, Corvette coddler would likely go for a raft of things reminiscent of past Vettes. While there’s no transparent roof panel available on the convertibles, the bright polished wheels will remind him of the mags of his youth, while available chrome emblems (sadly not pictured) will add a little gleam. The pattern on the standard all-season tires is more similar to his C4’s Goodyear Gatorbacks than what’s on the available Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer tires, and this guy’s looking for comfort over outright speed anyway. Expect this to be one of the best-kept Corvettes on the market in 20 years. Sadly, the expanded E-Ray visualizer went offline before I could finish this configuration, but fingers crossed it’s back up soon.
I Just Wanna Go Fast
Next, we get to a completely different sort of Corvette owner. While the coddler goes to great lengths protecting his pride and joy, the trackday junkie wants all of the go-fast bits with none of the extra fripperies. This owner may not have been able to get an allocation for a Z06 but is still excited to see what all-wheel-drive hybrid power can do on corner exit. The right trim for this sort of person is the base 1LZ Coupe as the E-Ray is already a porky beast. Chevrolet claims a dry weight of 3,774 pounds, but when was the last time you weighed yourself without any blood in your body?
Seeking to cleave weight from the Corvette E-Ray, our trackday junkie would go for the painted carbon fiber wheels as unsprung weight reduction is worth whatever the set may cost, especially if the dealer’s tire and wheel protection package is underpriced. Oh, and you bet that this person will tick the box for the ZER Performance Package, even if the stock tires are getting thrown in the bin for the latest semi-slick hotness.
For the sake of slapping on cheap vinyl numbers and the odd series decal, Ceramic Matrix Grey paint should provide great contrast against a variety of logos. Paired with a black interior and Competition seats, this performance-focused spec should allow for maximum fun on a reasonable budget. Well, reasonable as far as six-figure toys go.
Weird Spec But Okay
Time to do things my way. While I’ve usually leaned towards European sports cars for one reason or another, I hold a degree of reverence towards the Corvette. It’s a performance bargain, and even the cheap ones are way better than you’d expect. Case in point, a post-1984 C4 with three pedals and the Z51 package is still an engaging, zesty drive in 2022. For my ideal Corvette E-Ray, I’m starting with the 3LZ Coupe. It carries a $10,950 premium over the base model, but it includes a whole bunch of nice stuff including leather-wrapped interior panels, heated and ventilated GT2 seats, and some tasty carbon fiber bits. Hey, if you’re spending six figures anyway, why not get six-figure car toys?
Right off the bat, I’m going with Cacti as it’s the weirdest color on the list. Although the E-Ray visualizer does a pretty bad job at accurately displaying colors, Cacti is shared with the upcoming 2024 Chevrolet Trax, so here’s what it looks like on sheetmetal.
Handsome, right? While Mk2 Prius-esque pale green definitely isn’t to everyone’s taste, I dig it. While it was tempting to pair the Cacti paint with the one-year-only Artemis dark green interior, I decided that green-on-green is a bit much and went with something cool and reasonably analogous – the Two-Tone Blue interior. It’s a little outrageous, but it feels like a vibe.
Of course, I had to throw on a few extras, which is why I added the Visible Carbon Fiber roof panel for a bit of contrast, the Level 1 Carbon Fiber Package to add a bit more texture to the interior, and the bright polished wheels to really pop against the paintwork. While extremely shiny wheels get a bit of a bad rap, I’m a huge fan of bringing back a bit of bling. Mind you, this spec isn’t all show and no go. I’ve ticked the box for the ZER Performance Package because proper summer tires sound like a no-brainer, plus Chevrolet promises other chassis tuning tweaks to go with the stickier rubber.
So there we are, three very different ways to spec a 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray. While the expanded visualizer isn’t up for good yet, feel free to hop this link and spec your own Corvette E-Ray. Whether you hate the Cacti paint, desire Riptide Blue, or have a strong opinion on carbon fiber wheels, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
Photo credits: Chevrolet
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Thomas, I love your writing but I am never taking your advice on anything color-related after seeing this. 😛
Rapid blue coupe, 2LZ natural interior with stealth trim, blue seat belts. ZER package, carbon flash aluminum wheels. Probably more money than I can afford to spend. Cool.
https://visualizer.chevrolet.com/ui/2024corvette-eray/820003e0
I would redesign the car because it is so damn ugly
I wanted to customize it by deleting the engine and only having the front electric motor… but it wouldn’t let me!
That’s actually a very interesting thought.
If the engine was deleted and the space used for more batteries, it might be a decent FWD daily driver. At ~160HP, that’s more than enough for any legal speed. Not sure what kind of range you’d get, but I’m sure it’d be more than enough to get to work and back.
I worked backwards here a bit by picking my interior color first, then picking an exterior color that worked well with it. At first I tried to build something around the green interior but I wasn’t feeling any of the exterior colors with it, then I came to realize that I just didn’t like the green interior at all.
I ended up with the natural interior, riptide blue metallic paint, and the exposed weave carbon fiber wheels. The visualizer shows riptide blue way too light though and according to a quick google search, it’s actually much darker IRL
https://visualizer.chevrolet.com/ui/2024corvette-eray/00d252af
Yellow. Artemis green interior. Come at me bro.
That is awesome 😀
Fun fact: Rivian will also let you order a yellow car with a green interior
https://visualizer.chevrolet.com/ui/2024corvette-eray/987ea9da
It’s an orange convertible, blue interior, blue seatbelts, blue racing stripe. Carbon wheels (I was torn on this) and carbon nacelles (the contrast, plus the match to the wheels).
Of course, I won’t be buying one, but I really want to make terrible choices with my money now.
A bit of Speed Racer vibe to it: kinda brash-but it carries it
The way I see the Corvette is that the lines are already brash enough it screams for bright colors. And, yeah, old bright animation is fun, so it always has a place in the aesthetic.
Yay another orange-on-blue fan 😀
Riptide Blue, Artemis interior. Gray or polished wheels.
Assignment intentionally misunderstood, built Z06 instead.
https://www.chevrolet.com/performance/corvette/z06/build-and-price/summary
Honestly, this is a perfectly cromulent answer.
(cackles) I am succeeding in the normalization!
Also, it’s the correct answer.
Me, I got confused and built something that can actually be purchased.
https://www.chevrolet.com/performance/camaro/build-and-price/summary?styleId=427720&rpo=LTG,MN6,GW6,RTJ,R29,GKK,AQJ,H0Y,IOS,PCR,WRS,J55,J6F,SL2,SNQ,D80,SB2,STI,&ss=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&postalCode=60601
Can’t build a new-model Trax yet, let alone add custom accessories – I’m thinking Cacti Green with the LS silver-painted wheelcovers on steelies, lowered 2″ to get the OAH under the magic five-foot mark, flares/cladding painted body color, rear glass de-tinted and maybe a partial wrap in woodgrain effect.
Convertible, Riptide Blue exterior White seats, black dash. Hate to burn my but on black leather if the top is left down in the sun for too long.
That cabin looks nice and cozy. I love how everything is wrapped around the driver.
And I was amused how even the infotainment screen is angled toward the driver. I could just imagine my passenger trying to take a peek at the GPS map and the driver snapping at them: “No! That’s MY infotainment! You can’t look at it!”
Went with a yellow coupe, because why not?
https://visualizer.chevrolet.com/ui/2024corvette-eray/0012d15d
green is an awesome color 🙂
That Atremis interior isn’t quite green enough, too gray, so I chose the blue interior
My choice would be Orange exterior, blue interior 🙂