2021 Corvette C8 will offer Gulf Oil livery … sort of
Most of the mechanical changes to the 2021 Corvette have been released, but Chevy’s not done with the aesthetic updates to the second model year of its mid-engined Vette. This video, just released by Chevrolet on its Facebook page, advertises a color combination that’s reminiscent of Gulf Oil’s legendary livery.
Eagle-eyed motorsports fans will note that this overhead shot of the baby-blue-and-orange combo doesn’t confirm a precise replica of the Gulf Oil livery for the 2021 C8. The critical black stripe, which frames the orange stripe on this 2006 Ford GT Heritage, is absent in this shot—which, admittedly, only gives us one angle.
The blue-on-white stripe combination dropped in the video is a similar story. While this mocked-up C8 shares a color scheme with the winningest Corvette L88 of all time, that 427 monster bore its blue accent not as twin stripes, but as a single Stinger Stripe. Partial credit.
Our takeaway is that, while the previously-announced Stinger Stripe option for 2021 is a legitimate evocation of Corvette motorsports history, this Gulf-esque color combo is a bit of historically adjacent dress-up. Gulf Oil livery is the battle garb of the Porsche 917, the McLaren M20 Can-Am, and Ford’s GT40; Stinger Stripes belong to the Corvette. Chevy’s video proclaims that “We’re adding to the legacy,” but we’ll consider that addition legitimate when a C8.R wears the Gulf Oil colors at Le Mans.
We already knew that the 2021 Corvette would offer racing stripes in red, yellow, Carbon Flash, silver, blue, or orange—the final two configurations flashed in this video reflect a few such renderings. The example on the right may evoke the C8.R’s Velocity Yellow livery, but die-hard fans of Corvette Racing will likely be saving their pennies for the Stingray R trim package, which will likely bundle some fun side-panel graphics along with racing stripes. (We can only hope for Jake cameos, though sadly the center caps bearing his visage won’t return for 2021.)
