REPORT: Next Chevrolet Corvette to resurrect iconic split-window
It worked for the Chevrolet Camaro, so why not the Corvette? General Motors' head of global design, Ed Welburn, has reportedly told Inside Line that the C7 'Vette is going to lift the most notorious design cue from the entire line: the split rear window from the 1963 coupe. It will not, however, be the car from Transformers 2, and it will not be mid-engined.
Unlike the Camaro, the C7 doesn't need to make a splash or a styling statement beyond being the new Corvette. On one hand, we can understand that GM wants to make a statement – but why go back to the Sixties to get it? Although we dig it in the 1963 car, the split-window was a gimmick then and it would be a gimmick now, which makes it a bit of an odd move for us. America's sports car already has its adherents, and the C5 and C6 have done well for themselves with original (if evolutionary) designs. On the other hand, if Chevy can make the car hot enough – and a rear-camera helps alleviate visibility concerns) – probably we won't care what kind of glass it has. If a funky rear window treatment can work for Lamborghini's Reventón, there's no reason it can't work for the C7... right?
[Source: Inside Line | Image: mashleymorgan via CC 2.0]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
mapoftazifosho 1:29PM (9/22/2009)
So stupid. Going vintage for nothing more than the sake of going vintage...
I'd much prefer to be able to see out the back of my Corvette...
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Motor_Yakuza 1:37PM (9/22/2009)
So, the Merc SLS is stupid too.
Turbofrog 1:41PM (9/22/2009)
Motor_Yakuza - absolutely yes. The SLS _is_ stupid.
Rob 2:04PM (9/22/2009)
Putting in a little happy sentiment could work out just fine if they don't go overboard. Though, I fully agree that it shouldn't be a retromobile a'la Mustang/Camaro/Challenger. The Corvette is and always has been about the future, so I hope they keep it that way. That being said, I love little details that throwback to the past. It just seems to help keep some cars grounded. Anyway, I hope to see what they've done with it soon.
osunick 3:01PM (9/22/2009)
Couldn't agree more. The split window design lasted one year because it sacrificed too much function for the sake of form in an era when the vette was much more about form thatn function. Today the Corvette is a usable everyday supercar, and this kind of nonsense really takes away from what the car has become. The split window is fondly remembered because of its scarcity, but remember that the 1964 models didn't have it because of howling from the public.
Rob 3:57PM (9/22/2009)
See, I think today's vette sort of has the opposite problem...a little too much function to its form. Don't get me wrong, keep all the function and more, please; but adding a little more attention to looks (inside and out!)is definitely the right direction to go, in my opinion. Plus, there are plenty of cool looking cars that perform well and still have nearly zero rearward visibility. Has not a 911 Turbo a whale tail of most excellent awesomeness? Does the Viper ACR spoiler-of-doom not gallivant round nurburgring stupidly fast? Has, to date, any Lamborghini ever given a crap what you could see behind you? Rearward visibility be damned, they say. GM, and all american cars for that matter, used to be as much about how a car made you feel as anything else. Big blocks in small family sedans weren't an exercise in creating the best handling car possible, but you felt like a million bucks when you heard it's rumble. Same sort of thing with this. We all know the standard C6 is fast, but it lacks a little je ne sais quoi, so if a silly little strip down the rear window can steal a little of the '63 corvette's mojo then I'm all for it.
Darrin 3:01AM (9/23/2009)
RE: Turbofrog
"Motor_Yakuza - absolutely yes. The SLS _is_ stupid."
Couldn't agree more - the SLS Gullwing is like the "new" Miura show car Lamborghini displayed a few years ago; why dilute a storied part of your history with a re-pop that has no possible chance of living up to the reputation of the original?
At least Lambo had the common sense to kill the idea before they did any damage.
Mercedes doesn't know sports cars...look what they turned the SLR into.
TKOsoccer03 12:41PM (9/23/2009)
well, i don't know if any of you have driven a Corvette, but you can't see much out of your rear view as it is. that's not the point of the car folks ... do you think lambo, Ferrari, koenigsegg , lotus, or zonda drivers give a damn about their rear window? no .. they don't. i'm nto comparing the corvette to these cars by any means.. however, their owners share the same passion, and they don't give a damn about visibility and the rear view mirror.
adding a split won't trouble vette drivers believe me. it's the vette owners ever year down in kentucky that have been calling for a split window.
personally, i think it would be an option, because it isn't for everybody.
Autblogist! 1:32PM (9/22/2009)
Please god, don't let the C7 be some nonsense retro design excercise. I don't even want retro cues on this car. The Corvette should be GM's innovative platform.
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g00fba11 3:13PM (9/22/2009)
hah!!! Just wait until Pontiac's notorious plastic cladding and fake air intakes are resurrected as retro-nostalgic on GM's Heritage lines!
Redline 3:24PM (9/22/2009)
I agree, it's this kind of thinking "It worked for the Chevrolet Camaro, so why not the Corvette?" that will make it a failure. 'I have an idea lets make everything retro, people like that right? Right?' Let's hope they have some sense.
cruiseoveride 1:35PM (9/22/2009)
too many creases and the front looks funny. Gimmie the original classic clean lines
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vespid82 2:07PM (9/22/2009)
I think you'd be better off buying a Porsche Boxster then. About the closest you're gonna find to THIS - http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/chevrolet-corvette/images/chevrolet-corvette-1a.jpg in 2010... lol
cruiseoveride 2:41PM (9/22/2009)
I dont get what you mean.
Larry in Miami 2:05PM (9/23/2009)
seems each successive vette is more and more over styled, especially the ass end; the c-6 is totally ass heavy. They should strive for clean ungimmicky lines like the C-4, funny when the c-4 came out many thought it was too "tame," especially following the c-3... but the c-4 has stood up very well, design-wise, seems to look better every year. Keeping my 86 convert for sure!
BoxerFanatic 1:36PM (9/22/2009)
I would think that while visibility might be annoying, ccd cameras can help that, as can having a thin split.
If I were serious about the car, I would be more concerned if they solidify the rear half of the body, aft of the doors, and what that would mean for even meager stowage capabilities...
Will the car have a stow-able targa roof panel? will it fit? What about a weekend's worth of luggage and stuff for two people?
If the rear glass/body doesn't open, is it going to be even slightly practical?
Solstice Targa had a fatal flaw of not being able to even stow it's own targa panel, and it did have an opening rear glass hatch, just a really small one. I hope GM is learning, not forgetting how people actually use their cars.
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drolds1 1:38PM (9/22/2009)
There was a reason this was a 1-year only feature.
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Kyle 1:39PM (9/22/2009)
Hate It
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Pokey 1:40PM (9/22/2009)
I don't see the point in bringing back that particular styling cue. I'd rather see them go for a more pronounced "Coke bottle" shape than the split window.
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TonyInMI 1:41PM (9/22/2009)
Corvette has always been about evolutionary improvements in performance. C5 to C6 was marginal. Doing anything retro would be criminal. We need another evolution like C3 to C4.
Now take the Solstice coupe and restyle it and add the split and call it Stingray - that would rock. Although it would be great to have a mid-engine Stingray.
This is hot:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/08/twin-turbo-mid-engine-corvette-super-coupe-headed-to-sema/
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