By Steven Symes 
As promised, GM has finally made its big Corvette reveal, pulling back the covers on the ZR1X. The automaker is calling this version of America’s sports car a hypercar, thanks to twin turbos, a V8, and hybrid system combining to make an earth shaking 1,250-horsepower. This does indeed redefine what a Corvette can be.
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By adding twin turbos to the LT7 V8, output is elevated to 1,064-hp and 828 lb.-ft. of torque. But an electric motor on the front axle makes another 186-hp and 145 lb.-ft. of torque, so the C8 ZRX is in fact an all-wheel-drive hypercar.
All that power doesn’t go to waste. GM says this Corvette can sprint from 0 to 60 in under 2 seconds, making it the quickest ‘Vette ever. That’s quicker than the regular ZR1, which is a performance beast.
For the quarter mile, GM says the 2026 Chevy Corvette ZRX can do it in under 9 seconds at over 150 mph. In other words, it’s an 8-second factory car. That absolutely amazing!
Apparently, the ZRX has been in the works for a long time. “From day one, we designed the mid-engine Corvette architecture with ZR1X in mind,” said General Motors senior VP Ken Morris.
If anything, GM is probably lying again about the ZR1X’s performance and the hypercar is even more impressive than we’re being told. We also can’t wait to see what tuners do with this thing, which could probably do 7-second quarter mile runs with few modifications.
GM got people worked up late last week by dropping a teaser video on social media announcing something was coming to the Corvette model line today, June 17. The only hint about what it might be was a stylized “X.”
Theories about what the new sports car model might be ran the range, but the Zora was the top prediction among most enthusiast circles. After all, rumors of that model as well as pictures of supposed test mules have been circulating for a while now.
Another theory out there was that the ZR1e, a hybrid all-wheel-drive Corvette ZR1 was about to be revealed. That one was so close, just a letter and a few details off, but it was largely dismissed by enthusiasts.
Others pointed out there’s a precedent for using “X” to name a Corvette model. Back at the 2010 SEMA Show, GM showed up with the Corvette Z06x, a stripped-down C6 with a full roll cage added, stiffened suspension, lighter wheels, and other equipment focused on recreational motorsports.
That was of course a one-off concept that never went anywhere.
Now that we’ve seen the new Corvette ZR1X, we all get to speculate about the price and how much of a buying frenzy this generates. That sadly could mean dealers gouging enthusiasts big time, which we’ve seen far too often in the past.
Images via GM