Final production C7 Corvette, a 2019 Z06, to be auctioned in June

There’s been a long-sustained rumor that the C7 Chevrolet Corvette would continue to sell alongside the mid-engined C8 Corvette for a spell. That is not the case. Chevrolet announced it would auction the final production front-engined Corvette, a black 2019 Z06, at the Barrett-Jackson Northeast sale in Connecticut on June 28. Assuming Chevrolet isn’t auctioning some future build, the Northeast sale is three weeks before the reveal date for the C8 Corvette. If the rumored December date for Job One is accurate, that means a six-month interregnum between “The King is dead!” and “Long live the King!”

All proceeds from the auction will go to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, named in honor of a New York firefighter who died on 9/11. The foundation builds mortgage-free, accessible smart homes for catastrophically injured service members, and helps pay off mortgages for families of first responders killed in line of duty. As GMC’s national foundation of choice, Chevrolet and GMC have raised more than $10 million for the nonprofit in the past five years. Last year alone, Chevy contributed $925,000 to foundation coffers when it auctioned the first production Corvette ZR1 to NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick at the 2018 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction.

You have a little more than two months to prepare your eulogies for the last of ‘Vettes with a small block up front. Those waiting on the mid-engined car probably have their speeches ready, since this development has been expected for more than 50 years. A Car and Driver review of the 1968 C3 Corvette said, “The present Corvette will doubtlessly be the last front-engine model,” predicting a mid-engined coupe by 1972. Not only was that incorrect, but the C3 didn’t retire until 1982. In the same review, Chevrolet’s then-GM John DeLorean “pronounced the mid-engine version must be a functional sports/GT car, weighing in the neighborhood of 2600 lbs. and containing an engine of about 400 cu. in.”

Oh, how far we’ve come. The C8 Corvette remains almost all rumor, but the base engine is expected to be 378.3 cubic inches – 6.2 liters – and with options of two smaller DOHC twin-turbo V8s. We’re looking at well more than 2,600 pounds, but output should come in around or north of 460 horsepower, and no matter what, this summer, everyone wins.

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