Last C7 Corvette Stingray goes to NCM

While the NCM already owns several Stingrays, from early models to later generations, having this one as a ‘bookend’ to that collection was seen as important.

“GM offered us the opportunity to purchase the car,” said NCM President and CEO Dr. Sean Preston. “The Corvette is an iconic car in and of itself, and the last Stingray Coupe with front engine and manual transmission is an iconic car itself as well.”

Ivan Schrodt, NCM Lifetime Member and owner of a C7 Z06, funded the purchase of the car, which was delivered to the museum on 20 November.  

“I really believe in the Museum and what it does to preserve the history of the Corvette,” said Schrodt. “It’s nice when the Museum can have some of those one-of-a-kind cars in their collection. This is the last front engine Stingray Corvette with manual transmission that will ever be made. It’s a lot of lasts of its kind.”
Deliberately finished with a white exterior and red interior, in honour of the very first Corvettes from 1953, the last C7 also carries the signatures of Schrodt and GM Assembly personnel on the engine cover.

“I think it’s important that the Museum have the last front engine Stingray in the collection because it’s truly a milestone in Corvette history,” said Derek E. Moore, Director of Collections / Curator for the Museum.

“The Stingray nameplate holds such significance in Corvette history with the first Stingray Racer, followed by the first production Stingray in the second generation, and though we still see the Stingray nameplate in the eighth generation cars, it’s a momentous time where we are moving from the front engine design to a much more advanced design of a mid-engine. We at the Museum want to capture that history when such a significant change happens.”

The last C7 Corvette Stingray is now part of a ‘Corvette Generations’ exhibit in the museum’s Skydome.