Is this Our First Look at the Corvette Zora?

We’re only just coming down from the excitement of the C8 Corvette ZR1‘s debut; 1064 horsepower is quite a lot to digest. However, the sheer magnitude of such a machine sure doesn’t seem to be tripping up the Corvette engineers, who are apparently already on to the next thing.

Spy photographers have captured a camo-clad C8 Corvette testing on the Nurbürgring, and we can’t help but wonder if we’re being treated to our first glimpse of the Zora, the hybrid, all-wheel-drive, range-topping C8 that’s reportedly in the works.

Before we poke into the particulars of this mule, there are a few technical bits to discuss. The Zora is expected to pair the electric motor from the Corvette E-Ray with the twin-turbo, LT7 V-8 from the Corvette ZR1. The former would be responsible for spinning the front wheels—as it does on the E-Ray—while the latter will again brutalize the rear wheels exclusively.

When Tadge Juechter and his team revealed the ZR1, many folks noticed that the area between the front wheels—where the E-Ray’s electric motor would go—remained empty, instead of swallowing another cooler or some other performance-enhancing component. Couple that with the fact that the area where the E-Ray’s 1.1-kWh battery goes was also still empty in the ZR1, and it sure feels like something bigger (and gnarlier) is coming.

What’s more, the ZR1 has been spied testing alongside the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, which we first took to mean that Chevy engineers were hellbent on gunning for Ferrari’s top dog with the ZR1. However, the SF90 uses three electric motors and a twin-turbo V-8 … which sounds a whole lot like what the Zora is rumored to have, minus a few electric motors and a plug. Maybe the Chevy engineers were benchmarking their own complex drivetrain against a competitor?

Maybe both of these crazy Corvettes could hold their own against a range-topping Ferrari? Would there be anything more ‘Murican than dunking on the competition twice over?

Sorry, that idea was just too good not to put into words. Back to the camouflaged car at hand. When car companies test and develop these apex predators, we don’t often see camouflaged versions continue to run around test tracks after their public debut. The secret’s out at that point; there’s no need to play coy with the same car anymore.

With that in mind, this very well could be the Zora. There’s not much in this mule’s design that we can see that would distinguish this from a ZR1. We see the same massive rear wing, the same heat exchanger nostrils in the hood, and the same little extra intake notch on the hips of the car.

But there is one thing that, if you look really closely, does stick out here. Spy photographers noted the radiators of this mule appear to be stacked in the Corvette’s front end in a fashion similar to that of the E-Ray, an arrangement that neither the Z06 nor the ZR1 gets. (The driving force behind the different layout is, of course, the need to cool the E-Ray’s battery and electric motor.)

If you look at the photo above, check out the lower left corner (lower right on your screen) of the car’s front end: It almost looks like there are two coolers there, one with fins running vertically and the other with fins running horizontally. In the yellow ZR1 in the picture below, the same corner appears to show one single cooler spanning the width of that opening.

We’re not going to call this an open-and-shut case in favor of this for sure being the Zora, but the logic and parallels certainly don’t rule that out. Whether this is the Zora or not, the fact remains: Corvette wants a piece of everyone, and it’s not backing down.