The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X is one of those engineering marvels that makes you question the cost of everything it competes with. At a starting price of $230,000, it’s kind of a steal. Evidently one dealer agrees, which is why it’s tacked on a $400,000 “Hypercar Demand Premium” markup, for a $696,445 total. That’s around 130% beyond sticker.
The car in question is a 3LZ-spec convertible with an MSRP of $296,445 sold by George Nunnally Chevrolet in Bentonville, Arkansas. The dealer excuses the exorbitant markup with phrases like “Tier 1 Production Allocation” and “Extreme Exclusivity.” Even finer print on the window sticker offers further justification: “Due to extraordinary national collector interest and strictly limited production quantities from Bowling Green Assembly, market adjustments reflect authentic real-time secondary and primary market demand.”
The problem with this position is that, while the ZR1X is indeed more exclusive than, say, a Traverse, it is not a limited-run model and this is no special edition, either. We’ve seen C8 ZR1 markups of $100,000 or more and, sad though it is to say, what George Nunnally Chevy is doing here makes those look reasonable.
Look, I thought the Corvette ZR1 was a sensational machine when I had the opportunity to drive one recently, and I don’t doubt the even more powerful ZR1X is just as amazing. But there isn’t a single new car in the world today that is worth 230% of MSRP. Dealers can say what they like, but when you’re obliterating the markups that are already out there by a factor of three or four, you’re not following market conditions; you’re desperate to set your own.
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