General Motors didn’t need the C8 Chevrolet Corvette, but it was made anyway. The thing that makes it acceptable and trendy is that. Also, every time I see the car, I have to keep telling myself this because all I can think about is how bad it looks. Luckily, this has been being worked on for a while by a coachbuilder in Ontario, Canada. A whole new carbon-fiber body has been made with just a few small changes. The costs of the work add up to $135,000, which does not include the price of the sports car. The Unica Series 1 Caravaggio Corvette don’t exactly copy the C8’s shape and signature Cheshire grin from Grand Theft Auto. The headlights stay in place; they are still triangular and too high. The headlights and they can’t be changed, which is a shame. Instead, these are small changes that mostly involve removing go-faster trim and making the surface smoother. For the C8, the mouth has been shrunk, and the outside intakes now cover a smaller core aperture and look more sculpted. These parts are divided by winglets that move up and down, giving the car a sleeker and more purposeful look than the original. The big side intake, which used to be emphasized by an unnecessary black boomerang, has also been sculpted and remade. The space doesn’t have any clear wrinkles anymore; it looks like the breeze shaped it. The back part of the wing is now blended into the bodywork, making it look like a duckbill. The vents under the taillights have also been made bigger to go with the wider clusters. It’s hard to tell without putting the two styles next to each other, but the upgrade is definitely good because the two looks didn’t really go together before—nothing does on the C8 normally. The Caravaggio Unica Series 1 is the one that stands out to me the most. It’s still a C8, but the makers fixed many of the problems with the first one by making just the right changes. Of course, the $135,000 price tag comes with new materials inside and a new carbon-fiber shell that should cut the ‘Vette’s curb weight by about 40 pounds. The cooling system, brakes, powertrain, and wheels have all been changed to improve efficiency. The wheels are very important. The ones that come with the Stingray could be better; they look like they belong on an older, cheaper car and don’t match the sportiness of the C8. I’m not telling C8 users to take Caravaggio up on their offer right away, of course. I don’t think you could, even if you wanted to. That’s because each of the thirty cars would be customized to the customer’s exact style preferences. Even though automakers are rushing to find ways to cut costs and merge, it’s important to remember that there is an American mid-engine sports car that can beat the big guys. The amazing thing about the new Corvette is that it was made with basic tech. I only wish it looked better, but some ‘Vette owners can now make it look better.
