2026 Chevy Corvette ZR1

The Chevrolet Corvette may not be the first American sports car, but it's arguably the most important. In its almost 75 years of history, this two-seat coupe/convertible has evolved to meet the ever-increasing demand for performance, with one of the most significant changes coming in the current generation. It debuted as the first mid-engine Vette, with the engine behind the passenger compartment for greatly improved performance. For 2026, the Corvette gets an updated interior. It features a simplified button and control interface, a bigger center touchscreen, and an additional display screen for the driver. Oh, and there's also the small matter of the new Corvette ZR1X.

If you thought last year's introduction of the 1,064-horsepower ZR1 was as powerful as the Corvette could get, you haven't been paying attention. There's always room for more, and this year's ZR1X drives that point home. It starts with the ZR1's twin-turbo engine that sends power to the rear wheels, then adds the electric motor from the Corvette E-Ray to power the front wheels. Combined, they produce an outlandish 1,250 hp. Chevy says the ZR1X should accelerate it to 60 mph in under 2 seconds. With this form of all-wheel drive, it should also make the ZR1X a demon in the curves thanks to its improved traction.

With a price that ranges from $70,000 all the way up to a quarter-million, the 2026 Chevy Corvette has a long list of rivals. On the lower end, you have the Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman. For more generous six-figure budgets, there's the iconic Porsche 911 and the recently redesigned Mercedes-Benz AMG GT. Once you hit the $200,000 range, it's blown wide open to include the sportiest vehicles from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and McLaren. The Corvette, though, is the only one with a uniquely American heritage.

This generation of Corvettes marked a turning point for the revered American sports car. Knowing how important a vehicle it is, Edmunds' test team added a 2020 Stingray to its test fleet to get a more complete ownership experience. Over the course of 30,000-plus miles, they put the mid-engine Vette through its paces and drag raced it against some of the best sports cars in the world. Read all about it in Edmunds' Corvette One-Year Road Test coverage.

The 2026 Chevrolet Corvette comes as a coupe (with a manually removable roof panel) or as a convertible featuring a power-retractable hardtop. From there, you can pick among the base Stingray, the higher-performance Z06, the E-Ray hybrid, and the extreme ZR1 and ZR1X.