Which is correct?
A. “For that car, there are a variety of options.”
B. “For that car, there is a variety of options.”
I think it is B., since the object “a variety of options” is singular. (It is, isn’t it?)
Or is there a more proper C. option that I’m missing?
Yes, “variety” is singular", so “there is” is correct. But you could say “There are many different options”, because then “options” controls whether you have singular or plural is/are.
Well, my instinct was to say B. But I’d be wrong (and I have learnt this in the past, but forgotten it).
*Fowler’s English Usage * says:
I think it is safe to assume that “a variety of” should work in the same way as “a number of”.
Er, just to clarify, that is to say that the correct answer is A: “There are a variety of options”, as ugly as it sounds.
However Fowler goes on to say that “The number of…” would take a singular noun.
So: “There are a number of Japanese cars around,” but “The number of Japanese cars is increasing.”
Well, in my humble opinion, in this case Fowler is wrong. (He’s almost always right, though sometimes a little oldfashioned these days, but even he can get it wrong on rare occasions),
That sounds perfectly correct to me. That’s certainly the one I would have chosen.
Just my opinion, but I would say option A, because I think of “a variety” as a modifier(?) so to my ears it goes like this:
A. “For that car, there are options.”
B. “For that car, there is options.”
I am not a grammar expert, so I could be wrong, but I consider “a variety of options” as a kind of parenthetical thingy (<-technical term).
:smack:
“a variety” = “a variety of”
“a variety of options” = “a variety of”
I think it is just the “a” coming directly after “are” that seems to grate. However, I would have no qualms about saying “There are a lot of options”, or “You are a knucklehead,” so I don’t know why that should be. Anyway, A it is. 
It seems to me that “a variety of” could be replaced with “seven” or “a dozen” to give a more accurate picture of the sentence. In this case, it would be
“There are (a variety of/seven/a dozen) options.”
However, I think you can be granted some leeway here, since “of options” could also be construed as a prepositional phrase modifying “a (singular) variety”.
There is a regiment (of soldiers) on my lawn?
or
There are (a regiment of) soldiers on my lawn?
Each seems valid to me in a different way.
Flip it around.
Since the subject is “a variety”, I’d take the singular verb.
However, group-nouns, like number, regiment, etc. are funny. In English English, for instance, the government are… in American English, the government is.
Well, proximity can have a definite influence on what is perceived to be correct:
So it seems that there is no concensus. However, I don’t think the agreement by proximity is a very good rule. Consider:
“Either John’s brothers or Sally is/are bringing the dessert.”
In my opinion, both options are awkward. Despite the length, I would prefer:
“Either John’s brothers are bringing the dessert, or Sally is bringing the dessert.”
On the thing with “variety,” the best choice, if grammar is your chief concern, is “There is a variety of options for that car.” 78% of the panelists consider that to be a good choice.
However, in casual writing, it might be better to go with whatever sounds best. Consider:
“There are only two options for the Civic, but there is/are a wide variety of options for the Accord.”
Here, using parallel sentence construction might tip the balance. Still, technically, “is” is correct.
All that said, I would prefer “many options” to “a variety of options,” just to avoid this awkward problem.
That depends on what the definition of “is” is.
(sorry-- had to say it.) 