Tuesday 28th June 2016

Corvette supercar spy shots

Is this Corvette's answer to the Ford GT?

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You wait for one American mid-engined supercar to turn up and then two arrive at once and all that. Yes, on the day we were just talking about Ford gearing up to exploit the new GT's freshly earned Le Mans glory it seems GM may be working on a riposte. This is an interesting idea; the partisan divide between GM and Ford is one characterised by the muscle car battle between Camaro and Mustang but it looks like the two are squaring up to carry it through into the supercar arena.

Even PH's crack spy shot snipers admit this was a difficult car to snap, the accompanying blurb from the agency saying the elusive test mule has rarely been seen in daylight and these pictures were papped from a distance of over a mile using a 50.3 megapixel DSLR. With a very big lens. The pictures are correspondingly grainy, the car itself still heavily disguised.

But, running alongside a C7 Corvette, it would seem this is indeed a mid-engined supercar, complete with a flat rear deck and buttresses running up to the roofline. Whether they're simply prototype bolt-ons or a reflection of the final design the rear lights would appear to be similar to the C7, a recognisable lighting 'signature' a likely carry over to help reinforce the Corvette heritage.

Ford, as it is very keen to tell us, has mid-engined heritage thanks to the GT40 and translating that into modern-day race and road cars has some precedent. Can Corvette do the same without having the same sort of history? Only this weekend there was a Daytona Prototype Corvette at Goodwood; little more than a silhouette racer with a Corvette 'face' applied as a decal to the front. Like the test mule it also gets some C7 style rear lights for the merest hint of road car crossover so, in the home market at least, there is some relevance in the concept of a mid-engined 'vette.

Certainly the idea is more established the other side of the pond, Car and Driver among those reporting extensively on what the so-called 'C8' may be about. By the state of the mule we're still a long way of anything concrete. But it at least seems there's something brewing.

[Sources: Car and Driver]
[Photos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien]

[Don1]

This would be interesting - especially with what Ford pulled at Le Mans this year.

Fingers crossed more than a handful are made....

[vz-r_dave]

They are shifting the next generation Vette to a mid engine layout, it's not a limited production run.

[kambites]

Hopefully they'll:

1) Stick with a manual gearbox and
2) Offer it in RHD now there's no engine in the way of the steering column.

[saaby93]

are you sure that isnt a pic of a veyron?

[qube_TA]

There's been talk of a mid-engined 'vette for years, not sure it would really be the same car, be like a mid-engined 911.

Still a loony super GT version could be great, providing it addresses all the issues with the current Z07

[BogBeast]

kambites said:

2) Offer it in RHD now there's no engine in the way of the steering column.

Or put it in the middle .... Solve all the problems!

[SturdyHSV]

I'm sure 'cart springs' will be even more popular at £150,000

[vz-r_dave]

SturdyHSV said:

I'm sure 'cart springs' will be even more popular at £150,000

Worst troll attempt ever!

[mikEsprit]

A mid-engine Chevy should just be a new model, imo.

I suppose the problem with trying to have a supercar and a Vette at the same time is that the Vette leaves very little room for improvement. That's pretty much its point. Ford doesn't have that same problem with the Mustang, on purpose.

[marshalla]

"Corvette's answer"? Surely you mean "Chevrolet's answer"?

Are you having a Robin Reliant moment?

[kbee540]

This could be a good thing. A Corvette has often been a great car, but always limited by its layout (which I personally prefer TBH). But Chevy could spawn Corvette as a range of cars with the traditional front-engined/rear drive platform (Stingray) and a new mid-engine 'ultra' model that could be granted a classic Corvette moniker such as Mako Shark. It could be a good move to drive high-performance sporting cars away from the 'white goods' vehicles Chevy normally flog, whilst maximising the technology and engineering talent available to produce the 'best' Corvette possible.

That way the "good ol' boys" (me included) could have their Vette as it's always been - a blue collar middle/2-finger salute to the more exotic and expensive options, whilst a new market could be served by an uncompromised (and more expensive) full-on supercar.

60's Mako Shark concept:

Edited by kbee540 on Wednesday 29th June 09:58

Edited by kbee540 on Wednesday 29th June 10:03