Yahoo Autos 2020 Chevy Corvette Won't Have a Chrome Wheel Option
Chevrolet specifically banned chrome wheels from the 2020 C8 Corvette's option sheet.
The move is thought to be a play for a younger, hipper clientele.
Not to worry, though: We're assured that there's still room in the trunk for a set of golf clubs.
Chrome wheels, the Chevrolet Corvette's available (and seemingly popular) feature that most closely links its image to that of sixtysomething silver-haired men, was specifically banned from the C8 Corvette's option sheet.
News that the Chevrolet C8 Corvette's wheels were going no-mo-chromatic was confirmed to us by head engineer Tadge Juechter, who flatly told us during a discussion of the mid-engined Vette's wheels that there will be "no chrome available." The new Corvette's shiniest wheel option will be a "polished" rim design.
Is this move against chrome wheels ageist? Absolutely, but it's also part of a concerted effort on GM's part—which includes, you know, the C8's very serious new mid-engine layout—to shift the Corvette's appeal into edgier territory and toward those who don't yet qualify for AARP membership.
Will the old guys still see themselves in Corvettes? Well, no, at least not literally, now that the wheels' reflectivity has been curtailed. But we asked a sample size of one Corvette owner, our own senior editor Rich Ceppos, what he thinks of the change. His '65 convertible has chrome hubcaps—so he's unwittingly caught up in all this. Also, we hope HR doesn't think we're being ageist.
Ceppos's take? "Nineteen sixty-five was a very different time; many Vettes and plenty of other sports cars had chromey wheels and also came with whitewall tires—my car has them, too. Whitewalls would seem preposterous on a C8, and I think chrome wheels on just about anything are cheesy. But I think a lot of older Corvette buyers might be seduced by the mid-engined supercar looks—like they're getting a cut-rate Ferrari. And the knee-jerk Corvette haters won't even realize what it is while they're ogling it."
So, in short, we have one mature Corvette guy who's still very much interested in the new C8 Corvette, wheel designs and sidewall color be damned. An exodus of core Vette buyers, it appears, just might not come to pass. General Motors threw them a bone, anyway: Room for a set of golf clubs in the trunk, that other hallmark of the Corvette's old-guy aura, remains. It is a design choice that resulted in the C8's long, flat-topped butt, which has a much bigger effect on the mid-engined Corvette's appearance than would some flashy wheels.
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