The 2023 Chevrolet Corvette offers head-turning styling with supercar performance at an affordable price. It’s a car you can drive every day, even in its current mid-engine guise. It may look like a temperamental exotic car, but America’s sports car is reliable, gets reasonable fuel economy, and can be surprisingly practical for two people. The current generation Corvette is available as both a coupe and convertible; both body styles offer similar performance and are available in different trim packages.

But if the “wind in your hair” lifestyle isn’t your thing, the Chevy Corvette 2LT is just about perfect. It is a car for all seasons and will do almost anything except go offroading or haul a family on summer vacation.    

2023 Corvette trim levels, specs, and pricing

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Corvette, and to celebrate, the car is available in a special commemorative edition on the top-line 3LT. This trim package includes special dark-finish aluminum wheels with 70th Anniversary center caps, red brake calipers, and special exterior badging. Paint choices include White Pearl Metallic or Carbon Flash Metallic paint, with available Satin Gray or Satin Black racing stripes. Inside, leather upholstery with red stitching and microfiber trim covers the 70th Anniversary edition’s seats, and the car comes with a custom set of matching luggage.  

The Corvette coupe in 3LT trim lists for $77,845, with the 70th-anniversary package adding almost $6,000, bringing the total to $83,840. That’s almost $20,000 more than the Corvette’s base price of $65,895. 

The base 1LT Corvette comes with a lot of standard features, but the 2LT is arguably the car’s sweet spot. It adds a head-up display, a wireless smartphone charging pad, heated and ventilated seats, and a heated steering wheel. It also adds an excellent 14-speaker Bose stereo system for times when you’d rather listen to music as opposed to the sonorous engine note.

The Corvette coupe and convertible have the same specs, but the coupe is faster

Whether you go for the coupe or convertible, performance is evenly matched. Both cars are equipped with the same 6.2-liter V8 producing 595 hp and an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Both cars use the same tires and suspension setup. In fact, the only place you’ll see a difference between the two models is their weight and performance. 

According to Car and Driver, the Corvette convertible tips the scales at 3,747 pounds, 100 pounds more than the coupe. It’s a small difference, but it affects performance. The convertible does 0 to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds and hits the quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds at 120 mph. The coupe is two-tenths of a second faster, hitting 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and reaching the quarter-mile mark in 11.2 seconds at 122 mph. 

Unless you’re Jimmie Johnson or Max Verstappen, you’re not going to notice the 0.2-second difference. But one area you can tell a difference is at the gas pump. The convertible has a combined city/highway estimated fuel economy of 24 mpg, while the coupe gets an estimated 26 mpg.         

The Chevrolet Corvette Coupe Is $7,500 less than the convertible

But the biggest difference is on the MSRP sticker, according to Chevrolet. Checking the box for the coupe saves you $7,500 over the cost of the convertible in 2023. That amount will get you the $6,345 Z51 handling package and a wheel upgrade or cover the $995 cost of a Corvette Museum delivery.  

Or you could use the money for a nice vacation, like a beach vacation or a trip to wine country. You could also drive your new Corvette 2LT coupe to either destination, which is the definition of having your cake and eating it too.