The Process Begins: News on the Corvette C7

[Paulie]

Looks like they took a bit too much from that Bertone concept. There's also Far too much pininfarina in the nose.

IN fact....I think it IS that Bertone car, and NOT the C7. Someone photochopped it. There's no way GM would eschew the quad rear taillights.

That Stingray was unveiled and designed well before the Bertone IIRC.

 

[Northstar]

I like it.

Also, it makes a cameo in the new Brad Paisley video.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, seeing as how only "design elements" will make it into the C7, we don't have much to worry about. Like the step from C4 --> C5 --> C6, I imagine that the next generation Corvette will be a continued evolution of current design trends.

 

[GTjazzabrandy]

You seem to be quite into the car industry YSSMAN.

 

[Philly]

Can somebody explain what all the big fuss over this thing is? It was on the stand in Chicago, and I thought it was just there to look pretty. Which it did very well I might add. But like YSSMAN said, I don't think we'll see too much from the concept put onto the actual car.

Wasnt that car in transformers 2?

Yup. I think it was just a movie car.

 

[YSSMAN]

Can somebody explain what all the big fuss over this thing is?

It is otherwise a test-bed for ideas. Just like how GM used to go Corvette concept cars every couple of years. Remember this one?

Chevrolet Corvette Stingray III Concept - 1992

Obviously it had some level of influence on the design of the Camaro and Firebird that showed up less than a year later, but very little of the car turned up in the production generations that followed. The original design of the car utilized a Hi-Po V6, but it ended up using a 300 BHP LT1 V8. It did have a fancier version of the Cadillac self-adjusting suspension that had only debuted a few years earlier, which later became standard-fare in the C5+ Corvettes. The car, simply put, was too expensive to become the next Corvette.

Chevrolet Aerovette - 1977

This was something that GM really, really wanted to do. They had even priced it out between $15-18K. This was born out of GM's obsession with mid-engined, rotary-powered Corvettes throughout the decade. The damn thing even had gullwing doors. As far as I can tell, nothing came out of this in the production models that followed.

Or how about these?

Chevrolet Corvette Indy Concept - 1986

Chevrolet Corvette CERV III - 1990


GM, and Chevrolet for that matter, seems to have a knack for building fanciful Corvette prototypes every few years to see how they may possibly alter the otherwise conservative evolution of the Vette. My guess is that the Stingray, while looking cool and sticking to current technology, was more about the press and the anniversary of GM than anything else. I'd love to see that Volt-influenced interior, and the programmable Hybrid powertrain (think Voltec on steroids) somehow make it into production Corvettes, but it won't happen.

 

[Tornado]

Isn't the Aerovette the one that GM poured tons of money into developing a 4-rotor rotary for only to dump it when it dawned on them that rotaries (of the time period) get terrible mileage?

 

[dancardesigner]

I wish cars like the vette brought back the flip ups, as far as i know they are not technically illegal, it's just a bitch to get them to comply with road safety standards. I may be wrong on that though.

 

[YSSMAN]

Isn't the Aerovette the one that GM poured tons of money into developing a 4-rotor rotary for only to dump it when it dawned on them that rotaries (of the time period) get terrible mileage?

The Aerovette came out of that era, but as I recall, the production version was going to have the standard 350 cublic inch V8 that Chevrolet stuck in everything. I believe even the suspension components were pulled off the standard Stingray. The car was literally this close to production, but it was canceled at the last minute, just as the C4 Corvette was about to hit the scene. Considering that the car would have cost somewhere around $55-65K in 2009 dollars, I could see how the idea wouldn't have worked that well.

 

[Jim Prower]

Still, I'd have liked to heard that. If the Mazda R26B is any indication of that thing's sound....

 

[Paulie]

Here's a fact about that car. When GM asked Mazda if they could use the wankel rotary, Mazda wanted something out of it too. Since Mazda asked for a luxury car they could use for themselves, they were given the Holden Kingswood, which Mazda then fitted with a rotary and was only ever sold in Japan. The car was as slow as anything, being a primitive rotary engine in a large car, and thirstier than what the V8 out of the Kingswood would have been had they chose to keep it, but oh well. Hence the story of the Mazda Roadpacer.