When production cranks up next May, the XLR will be built in the same Bowling Green, Kentucky, plant that assembled the 33,655 Corvettes sold last (calendar) year. It has essentially the same hydroformed frame-rail construction as the Vette. The two will share body and paint shops, but will be assembled on different lines. He also acknowledges that many of the same electronics, suspension, body structure, braking, heater/ventilation/air-conditioning, and even some driveline components will serve in the next-generation C6 Corvette (the current car is internally dubbed C5). Many industry critics jokingly refer to the XLR, which will carry a considerable $30,000 premium above the C5, as the "Vette Version 5.5."
Leone tells us that using this Corvette-derived rear-drive platform was not a certainty from the start. GM's new Sigma chassis, currently used under the '03 CTS sedan and later to be offered under the '04 SRX crossover and '05 Seville, was considered for the XLR. But because the Corvette's underpinnings were conceived from the start for convertible duty, it seemed a more natural match.
