Filed under: Concept Cars, Sports/GTs, Supercars, Chevrolet
Mid-engine Corvette to bow with C7?
Mr. Peter DeLorenzo is in the know, or so he talks a good game and has got us wondering whether the Corvette will abandon its tried-and-true front-engine format for a more exotic engine placement between the rear wheels. In his latest issue of the Autoextremist, DeLorenzo clues us all in on a furious debate taking place within General Motors concerning the next-generation C7 Corvette. One side wants to finally make the Vette a mid-engine sportscar, while the other, lets call them traditionalists, argue the car's bang-for-the-buck would be destroyed by such a move. Knowing that the Vette's value as an affordable supercar is one of its main selling points, the outcome of this debate could potentially sink the car's sales.
DeLorenzo has a theory of how this will play out, though. According to him, we should expect the next-gen Corvette to be similar to the current model with a engine up front, but it will be lighter and feature at least two engines: a new, small-displacement aluminum V8 and a updated version of the current V8. Above the traditional "People's" Vette will be an extremely exclusive mid-engine version of the car that will cost six-figures and be produced in extremely low numbers, like 500 or so. Will it happen? Who knows, but we've always wanted to see something like the 1990 Corvette CERV III Concept (shown above) go into production.
[Source: Autoextremist via Jalopnik]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
BOB 4:16PM (1/24/2007)
OH, FER CHRISSAKES!
Are we going to have a few years of this old discussion? Everyone knows that if they go to a more exotic setup and price, sales will not increase. This car sells largely to loyalists, because the "bald with gold chain" image is going to take awhile longer to go away, spmetime after Chevy returns to daring styling and finally makes a cockpit worthy of the price.
THE 2008 VETTE ought to be the present model with a facelift to get rid of the bland, non-controversial,generic front end, plus an entire interior upgrade and some mechanical updates. I dont think this is happening.
Hello, Mr Lutz???
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bland moves 4:17PM (1/24/2007)
I would LOVE to see a $40k mid-engine corvette. Fat chance.
Why is it mid-engine cars are either cheapie MR2 class or ultra expensive ferrari class vehicles? (boxster/cayman excepted)
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rwdmtparkingonly 4:24PM (1/24/2007)
I think there is no real advantage to a rear/mid-engine car over the current front/mid-engine, rear transaxle, torque tube setup. The current Corvette layout is the same layout that the most powerful post Enzo Ferraris use.
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jamey 4:25PM (1/24/2007)
Mid engine sounds good.
as long as they dont call it a corvette.
and if they went to the mid-engine layout it would lose its title of the most storage space in its segment, how could they sell a vette with out that?
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Michael Karesh 4:26PM (1/24/2007)
I also cannot believe they're having this debate again.
The basic formula has been working well for over half a century. A mid-engined car may be a good car, but it would not be a Corvette.
Every time Porsche redoes the 911, do they debate whether to abandon the rear engine layout? Because that layout has far more disadvantages than the Corvette's.
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Michael Karesh 4:26PM (1/24/2007)
I also cannot believe they're having this debate again.
The basic formula has been working well for over half a century. A mid-engined car may be a good car, but it would not be a Corvette.
Every time Porsche redoes the 911, do they debate whether to abandon the rear engine layout? Because that layout has far more disadvantages than the Corvette's.
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Araemo 4:29PM (1/24/2007)
Does 'mid-engine' completely require the engine to be in the rear? According to things like Mazda's PR materials, mid-engine just means the engine is completely between the two axles(Like they claim the RX-8 is Mid-engine even though the engine is up front.. And if the engine has to be in the rear, what differentiates mid-engine from rear-engine?)
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rwdmtparkingonly 4:39PM (1/24/2007)
#9, as I said in #4, the Corvette already has an FMR layout:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMR_layout
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Empty pockets 4:41PM (1/24/2007)
This car was released a decade ago as the Jaguar XJ220. Google image it and compare.
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Brett 4:44PM (1/24/2007)
Maybe they're looking for a way to cram AWD into a top end sportscar. It'd be kind of hard to cram it in there the way the vette is laid out now. I agree, name it something else if you're going to put the horse behind the carriage.
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utu 4:57PM (1/24/2007)
They shouldn't name the mid-engine car a 'vette. Corvette should be front engine rear-wheel drive. Maybe something similar to Toyota's move with the Celica / Supra is the answer ?
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Marko 5:02PM (1/24/2007)
GOOD GRIEF....FOR THE LAST TIME...CORVETTE, IN ANY TRIM WITH SUPERCHARGERS WHETHER ON A Z06 IS NOT AN EXOTIC CAR BY ANY MEANS!!!!
If I can pull up to a Walmart and find a vette in the parking lot, its not an exotic.
Now, the Corvette is one of the best US production sports cars ever made, especially C6 with its sights on European marketing.
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Marty Vance 5:31PM (1/24/2007)
The C4, C5, and C6 are all evolutionary steps from the C3 design of the 70's. Every time Chevy has redone the Corvette, the styling changes have gotten less and less drastic. Vette styling has become boring and outdated.
Is this GM appealing to the traditionalists, or trying to maintain the gold-chain, divorcee, mid-life crisis demographic (is there a difference)?
The Corvette is a world class performer (fort eh time being), but it's boring. Vettes used to be exciting. Silly debates about the shape of the tail lights or the Vette-ness of fixed headlamps only perpetuates the problem.
Moving to a mid-engine layout is a very drastic step, probably too drastic. Putting the Corvette name on two totally unrelated cars will only confuse the brand.
GM should keep the front engine layout, but let the designers have someleeway on what a Vette is now, not tie them to reimagining what Vette was in 1973. Retro is overdone. The Vette needs to look modern.
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BOB 5:33PM (1/24/2007)
John, if you run into Mr Lutz, tell him that some of us old boomers dont want ANY car that teens and young adults do not find cool -- our way of holding on to our youth is not to be seen in Grandpa cars. Perhaps I was out of date with my gold chain image: "fat with white beard and a happy smile" would describe more of the Vette drivers I see now.
The C5 was no beauty: although younger looking than the C6, it did not solve the image problem.
Only a HOT new model could.
____________________________________________________
My experience at the LA Auto Show when the C5 was introduced, and shown in unflattering WHITE:
-- Three fairly hip suburban 19ish boys look at the car. One says to his friends,
"Cant you see some bald divorce picking up chicks in this thing?"
_________________________________________________
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pd 6:03PM (1/24/2007)
I think this has a good chance of happening, Mr. DeLorenzo seems to have the inside track on whats going on inside GM. Just make it all carbon fibre,and look like the CIEN and they could sell twice that number!
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Peter 6:21PM (1/24/2007)
#1
1.07? Seriously, get some proper tires...
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El Norte 6:30PM (1/24/2007)
Cool idea, although I think it was also a cool idea when it was called an Acura NSX.
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Smokeyphantom 6:54PM (1/24/2007)
#9 and #10 are right on. I think they should go the Mclaren SLR/Ferrari SLR route, and make it a front mid-engined sports car.-that is if they decide to do it at all. We should remember that the sting ray was a departure from traditional corvette styling, and that without innovation and risks, we'll all still be talking about the same classics over and over again.
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Smokeyphantom 6:56PM (1/24/2007)
oops, Ferrari 599 I mean.
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bland moves 7:04PM (1/24/2007)
#5 - yes, lets rename it. How about "Fiero" :-D
#7 - actually, yes porsche has considered making the 911 mid-engine...
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