2020 C8 Corvette build allocation is for sale on eBay for $110,000

Here’s a jolt to start your day in case the coffee just ain’t doing it: eBay seller “estate-sales-deals” has listed a 15-day auction for a 2020 C8 Chevrolet Corvette allocation for a Buy It Now price of $110,000. That’s just the beginning of the jolt, so stay with us. That six-figure sum buys a hardtop in LT1 trim in Arctic White with silver wheels, both no-cost options. The cost options listed are the Z51 package, competition seats, carbon flash metallic painted side mirrors, roof panel storage bag, and car cover. That’s $7,715 in goodies on a $59,995 car, call it close to $69,000 after the destination charge. Leaving this situation with a $41,000 markup for what Corvette Blogger called “essentially a Z51 stripper model perfect for track rats.”

The seller also knows what he has. We’re calling the seller “he,” but the seller’s gender — like so many things about this — is a mystery. The listing includes a landline number; if that number corresponds to the seller’s location in Wolcott, CT, then it leads all dialers to the hotline at A-1 Cleaning, LLC. At the beginning of the description any time-wasters and tire-kickers are warned that the price is firm, and, “I don’t have to sell it, nor do i need too [sic] for any other reason other than making a profit.” Or perhaps he’s not quite sure what he has, since he lists the coupe having 650 horsepower, which others have taken to mean the seller got carried away by the wilder fringes of Motor Trend‘s recent Corvette dyno conundrum. And instead of using any one of the bajillion online photos of an actual Corvette, he chose a pre-reveal rendering with the wrong wheels. 

The just-ended UAW strike at GM helped the seller, who describes the build allocation as “1ST WAVE & VERY EARLY RELEASE!” GM pushed the C8 Corvette’s start of production to February due to the strike, but also due to the strike GM apparently decided to build all trims and options from the jump. Previous to the strike, GM had planned a ramp-up period that prioritized certain build options and colors, and delayed an Arctic White 1LT trim to six weeks or more after the lines at Bowling Green got moving.

Still. A $41,000 markup for a base 1LT is … the free market. Know what else is the free market for anyone with $110 large to drop on a build slot? Calling a dealer with some juice at GM, loading up a 3LT trim to $90,000, promising to pay an additional $15,000 dealer markup and put another $3,000 in the suddenly capacious pockets of the general manager’s 100% cotton Dockers, and inviting the local Corvette club to a $2,000 Happy Hour bash at Applebee’s when the car is delivered. Money much better spent on fighting one’s way up the Corvette queue, and there’d be a proper Corvette that will still kill at the track, a few new track-day comrades, and a mind-crushing hangover at the end of it.

Nevertheless, at the time of writing there are 328 potential bidders watching the auction that ends November 19, so anything could happen, and we wish the seller well. In truth, we need to give the seller credit for modesty. A Toyota dealer listed a 2020 Toyota Supra for $198,563 in July, then cut the price almost in half and claimed someone took the car home for $100,000. You really can do anything on the Internet. And the Corvette seller warned he could raise the price if he wants, so he just might do anything.