So Is The C8 Corvette Grand Sport Happening, Or What?

General Motors hasn’t confirmed it yet, but all signs point to a Corvette Grand Sport returning to the lineup. The C8 generation has been on the road for five years now, yet there's a clear gap between the Stingray and the hybrid E-Ray.

The Grand Sport badge has been dormant since the end of the C7 production in 2019. Recent Corvette development mules have been spotted appearing to lean heavily on the Grand Sport playbook—wider stance, chassis and aero features nabbed from higher spec relatives, and a naturally aspirated small-block V8.

The Grand Sport has historically been a sweet sport in the lineup, offering much of the same chassis athleticism as the Z06 or ZR1, but paired with the Corvette's base engine.

Some of the most convincing evidence comes from a camouflaged prototype caught running around with wheels wearing Buick center caps. GM’s engineers have a long history of slipping in winks and nods on test vehicles, and the Buick caps could be a nod to Buick's historical "Gran Sport" models. That same mule also had the engine cover glass covered up with camo, presumably to keep eyes away from powertrain changes still under development.

GM is deep into work on its sixth-generation small-block V8, a relatively clean-sheet design expected to launch in the 2027 Silverado and Sierra before moving into performance products. Industry chatter points to a 6.6-liter version expected for Corvette duty.

One of the more interesting questions is around the potential for a manual transmission option to join the C8 family after five years without it. At the 2025 SEMA Show, Tremec dropped a new six-speed manual transaxle that just so happens to fit perfectly behind the C8's engine. Wouldn't a row-it-yourself option be the perfect addition for a driver-focused Corvette model?

No joke, the shape, mounting points, and overall dimensions of the manual transaxle are identical—it's not surprising considering Tremec started with the same case dimensions as the Corvette's existing TR-9080 DCT. The Tremec DCT was itself designed specifically for the C8 Corvette, before Ford came and plucked it off the shelf for use in the Mustang GTD. Tremec said the manual transaxle can handle 1,000 horsepower, 800 lb-ft of torque, along with engine speeds up to 8,600 rpm.

Chevrolet hasn’t said a word publicly, and the prototypes are still deep under camouflage. But the timing, the hardware, and the rumors leave little doubt that something is happening. Mirroring the C7 Grand Sport's arrival toward the end of the model's production run, the C8 Grand Sport could potentially arrive as a 2027 model and run through the end of C8 production in 2029.

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