Cary's Corvettes: Nan's C8 Mid-Engine Corvette

Christmas Eve, 2023

Two months ago today, on October 24, 2023 Nan finally received her 2024 eighth generation ("C8") mid-engine Corvette convertible. The car is Red Mist Metallic, with matching brake calipers and the tan "dipped" interior, chrome wheels and all the options that Nan wanted. Arriving at this happy destination was a bit of an odyssey, as you will read below.

Close friends will remember that I sold Nan's award-winning 1956 Corvette back on October 15, 2021, so she was "Corvetteless" for two years and nine days.

The C8 Corvette Stingray was released in 2020, with an all new design, mandated by placing, for the first time in a Corvette, the engine behind the driver. At first she (and I) weren't completely sold on the new design. But then on October 26, 2021 (11 days after the 56 was sold) Chevy announced the Z06 version of the C8 Corvette at the Peterson Museum in LA with an on-line extravaganza. Nan and I watched the reveal video over and over. The Z06 was going to be a very special car!

Early the next morning Don and I drove to LA so we could be the first people in line at the Peterson to see the C8 Z06 Corvette up close and in person. Wow! What a car! The reveal car was a Red Mist Metallic Convertible with the "dipped" tan interior. Here is one of the photos we took of the car and the story of our trip.

Reveal of the C8 Z06 Corvette

Nan liked the car enough that she decided to buy one. The only problem was that there were long waiting lists at all the Chevy dealers, even the largest ones. So Nan went through all the hoops to get in line at four different dealerships. And she waited. And waited.

Wanting to be ready for her new car, she ordered the license plate from California DMV,

After two years, the production of the Z06 remained low and the demand remained high. The wait was estimated to be another 2 to 3 years. So in June of this year she decided to forgo the Z06 and instead order the Stingray version.

Getting a Chevy dealer who would give her an allocation for a Stingray proved to be just as challenging as the Z06. So on June 24th she turned to Mike Piccirilli of Miller and Sons Chevrolet - Buick in Aliqqippa, Pennsylvania -- the same dealership that sold us our 2018 C7 Z06.

Mike Piccirilli sells us a 2018 Z06

Mike told Nan that he thought he could get an allocation for a 2024 Corvette, and if he could, the car would be hers! By July, Mike had received an allocation and Nan went through the 100 page Corvette order guide to specify every detail of the car that would be custom built for her. In early August, Mike called her to say that Nan's order was "accepted" (meaning that her car could be built with the options specified). And on August 18th, while we were at the Laguna Seca Corvette Race, Mike called to tell Nan that her car had been scheduled for production.

Mike kept in constant contact with Nan, even giving her updates as the car was traveling across the country from Bowling Green Kentucky to San Diego. She picked up the car on October 24th.