Just $1,100 separates the outgoing Corvette E-Ray from its successor, the Grand Sport X, on base MSRP. Yet combined output jumps from 655 to 721 horsepower. That's the whole story in one line: Chevrolet is swapping its most affordable all-wheel-drive hybrid for a noticeably more powerful car, almost without a price hike. That's exactly why the start of customer-car assembly matters more than a routine production milestone.
According to an unofficial Corvette production tracker, the first customer Grand Sport X units rolled off the Bowling Green Assembly line on August 17th, with some cars already moving into the shipping stage. C8Tracker itself stresses it has no affiliation with General Motors or Chevrolet and builds its estimates from public data — so this date can't yet be treated as an officially confirmed start of series production.
That gap shows in Chevrolet's own messaging, too. The current Grand Sport X page still displays pre-production vehicles and lists availability for fall 2026. The factory stage, based on third-party data, appears to have already begun. The official consumer launch hasn't.
The Grand Sport X replaces the E-Ray and keeps its core idea: a V8 drives the rear wheels, an electric motor drives the front axle. But the hardware changed. Instead of the 6.2-liter LT2, it uses the new naturally aspirated 6.7-liter LS6, good for 535 horsepower on its own; the front motor adds another 186 horsepower. Chevrolet quotes a combined 721 horsepower, eAWD all-wheel drive, and a 1.9 kWh battery.
That's a 66-horsepower gain over the E-Ray, or roughly 10%. The outgoing E-Ray starts at $108,600 before destination, while the Grand Sport X's base MSRP is $109,700. With the mandatory destination charge, the new GSX lands at $112,195. Chevrolet confirmed that price back in the spring.
The changes go beyond power. The Grand Sport X gets the larger V8, a front electric motor derived from the ZR1X architecture, standard carbon-ceramic brakes, and Endurance, Qualifying, and Push-to-Pass hybrid drive modes. An electric Stealth Mode lets it move without firing up the V8 at speeds up to 50 mph.
Chevrolet previously planned to start production of the regular 2027 Corvette on June 8th, while the Grand Sport X remained without a separate start date. In July, dealers were cleared to take retail orders for the GSX. Now word of the first customer cars closes out the next link in that chain, even though Bowling Green hasn't released official Grand Sport X production numbers yet.
The next checkpoint won't be another tracker — it'll be Chevrolet's first official confirmation, or National Corvette Museum data on Grand Sport X output. For now, the automaker is still sticking with “available fall 2026” for the model.
