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HomeCar CultureFinal front-engine Corvette quietly exits the Bowling Green assembly plant

Final front-engine Corvette quietly exits the Bowling Green assembly plant

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The last front-engine Corvette rolled off the assembly line Thursday in Bowling Green, Kentucky, as Chevrolet quietly marked the moment in history with a single tweet.

The black Z06 was pre-sold in June at a Barrett-Jackson auction for no less than $2.7 million, with all proceeds benefiting a charity that assists veterans, first responders and their families obtain homes.  The car was donated by Chevrolet.

“Some endings are bittersweet,” Chevrolet said in the tweet, which included a photo of the Corvette as it completed assembly. “The last #Corvette C7 – the end of an era – rolled off the line today. It was previously auctioned for $2.7 million with proceeds going to building smart homes for veterans.”

The final C7 is  powered by a 6.2-liter, 650-horsepower V8 linked with a seven-speed manual transmission, something else that’s going away as the C8s will be produced only with automatics.

Chevrolet shortly will begin production of the 2020 C8 models, joining the ranks of modern-era supercars with engines behind the seats. The first C8 also will be donated by Chevrolet for a charity auction.

While the new mid-engine Corvette is hotly anticipated by enthusiasts, there is still mourning for the demise of the front-engine Vette, the classic configuration that goes back to the fiberglass sports car’s roots in 1953.

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Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen is a longtime automotive writer and editor, focusing on new vehicles, collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. He is the former automotive writer and editor for The Arizona Republic and SPEED.com, the website for the SPEED motorsports channel. He has written free-lance articles for a number of publications, including Autoweek, The New York Times and Barrett-Jackson auction catalogs. A collector car enthusiast with a wide range of knowledge about the old cars that we all love and desire, Bob enjoys tinkering with archaic machinery. His current obsession is a 1962 Porsche 356 Super coupe.

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