When the C7 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 debutedfor the 2019 model year, it literally shook the supercar world with its 755-horsepower (563-kilowatt) 6.2-liter supercharged V8. Unlike the previous-generation ZR1 which shared its engine (albeit detuned) with Cadillac, this new LT5 mill served the Corvette exclusively. Outside the production car realm, GM also offered it as a standalone crate engine. But now, the LT5 era is officially over.

Load up the Chevrolet Performance Parts website and you'll still find the LT5 listed, but a yellow banner at the top of the page informs shoppers it's a discontinued product. Of course, we knew the C7 ZR1 wouldn't stick around long, and being the pinnacle of performance from GM, there really wasn't an appropriate secondary application for the V8 to pair with. Perhaps a final edition Camaro IROC with the LT5 would've been neat, but with Camaro sales all but dried up and production woes hurting mainstream models, such a move would likely be extremely cost-prohibitive.

Gallery: 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 First Drive

All that being said, don't lament the end of bonkers internal-combustion power from GM. The supercharged LT4 V8 shared by the Camaro ZL1 and Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing belts out 668 hp (498 kW) in top trim, and we're tantalizingly close to seeing the C8 Corvette Z06 and its deliciously high-revving DOHC V8. It almost certainly won't make 755 hp, but there's no reason to believe the next-gen ZR1 won't get a fabulously boosted version that makes as much or even more.

Mind you, these are pure combustion-powered Corvettes. Add in electrification and power levels quickly rise, starting with the rumored C8 Corvette E-Ray expected in 2023. It could use the existing 490-hp (365-kW) 6.2-liter naturally aspirated engine with a single electric motor, boosting total output to 650 hp (485 kW). And then there's the new Zora flagship, which has long been rumored to pack upwards of 1,000 hp with its hybrid powertrain.

So go ahead and pour one out for the supercharged LT5, but don't fret. Bigger and better things are waiting in the wings.

 

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