1.5 millionth Corvette
The 1.5 millionth Corvette built (far right) features the same white exterior/red interior color combination as the first Corvette (far left), the 500,000th one (middle left), and the 1 millionth model (middle right).

Amid a sea of bad news coming down the GM pipeline is a tiny life raft: Chevrolet is celebrating its 1.5 millionth Corvette, a milestone accomplished on May 28th. The 1,500,000th Corvette came off the production line at Chevrolet’s Bowling Green, Kentucky, assembly plant nearly 60 years after the first model rolled off the line in Flint, Michigan. Chevrolet has been a bright spot in the automaker’s brand portfolio, helped along by the iconic and popular Corvette.

The commemorative Corvette is a white convertible 3LT with red interior and a black top, a color scheme that echoes the first-ever Corvette built in 1953, the 500,000th in 1977, and the millionth in 1992.

In other Corvette news, reps for the bow-tie brand released pricing for the new-for-2010 Grand Sport model. Available in coupe or convertible body styles, the Corvette Grand Sport gets power from the line’s 430-horsepower 6.2-liter V8 engine; an optional two-mode exhaust system adds six horsepower.

Click here to read our review of the 2010 Chevrolet Corvette.
Grand Sport specific trim includes wider front and rear fenders, rear spoiler, functional brake ducts, specific gearing, and unique 18-inch front and 19-inch rear wheels. Chevrolet boasts a 0-60 mph time of four seconds and an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 26 mpg on the highway.

The Grand Sport model replaces 2009’s Z51 Performance Handling Package in the Corvette lineup and will start at $55,720 for the coupe and $59,530 for the GS convertible (including destination charges). A 2009 base Corvette coupe with the Z51 package costs $51,110 and the convertible model stickers for $55,765. The Corvette Grand Sport goes on sale later this year.

06.11.2009