Mid-engine Chevy Corvette C8 'Emperor' arrives in 2019

Another day, another rumbling about the mid-engine Chevy Corvette.
Today’s comes from the Detroit News, which reports the C8 will arrive in 2019 with the long-awaited mid-mounted engine. The
News, citing unnamed sources familiar with Chevy’s plans, said the front-engine C7 will linger until 2021.

The story says the C8 is codenamed “Emperor.” It’s expected to be shown to the public in 2018. A General Motors spokesman declined to comment to
Autoblog.

The newspaper quotes a former GM employee who says, “It’s happening. Mark Reuss [General Motors product chief] wants it. It’s the worst-kept secret in town.”

No kidding. We’ve seen
spy shots, car magazines have done all sorts of renderings, and breathe the phrase “mid-engine Corvette” if you want chief engineer
Tadge Juechter to clam up immediately. Every time GM trademarks anything from
Zora to
E-Ray, enthusiasts wonder how it relates to a Corvette feature or model. Some even think the C8 will
spawn a Cadillac.

The
News also quotes former GM product czar Bob Lutz, who says the mid-engine Corvette was approved but then shelved before the company’s bankruptcy in 2009. Interestingly, he also suggests the next-gen Vette could have some sort of electric component that could give the car up to 15 miles of range.

Going to a mid-engine layout would be a dramatic departure from the Corvette’s more than 60-year history, but it would allow GM to compete with a different range of supercars, including the Ford GT and European exotics.

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