We told you a couple of days ago about the year’s most celebrated automotive introduction, namely that of the mid-engine, eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. Naturally, it’s going to be produced at the dedicated assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which has built every Corvette since the first ones in 1953. The assignment of providing the engine for this crucial General Motors halo car goes to another famous piece of GM real estate, the powertrain plant at Towanda, New York, outside Buffalo.
As we’ve already reported and you can now see, the Stingray’s version of Chevrolet’s Gen V small-block V-8 gets a lot of visual polish and color so it can be clearly seen through the new car’s rear glass. In Corvette trim, the 6.2-liter LT2 V-8 produces 495 naturally aspirated horsepower and 470-lbs.ft. of torque when fitted with the performance exhaust option. Towanda Engine actually consists of three factories, the earliest of which dates back to 1938, and also produces the turboharged Ecotec inline-four currently. In 2016, GM set aside some $300 million for improvements at Towanda Engine as it prepared to turn out new-generation GM powertrains; the new Corvette engine marks the culmination of that investment. Towanda Engine today employs some 1,500 people.
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