Did Cadillac’s President Hint that the Zora ZR1 Mid-Engine Corvette is Real?

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Did Cadillac's President Just Hint that the Zora ZR1 Mid-Engine Corvette is Real?
Photo Credit: Motor Trend


We’ve been following the rumors and innuendo surrounding a potential mid-engine Corvette that may be under development by GM that would hit the market around 2018. And while we are confident that this car known as the Zora or the ZR1 is going to happen, it’s always nice when a company insider lends credence to those rumors, whether intentional or not.

In a recent interview with Motor Trend, Cadillac’s President Johan de Nysschen was talking halo cars, diesel’s vs hybrids and production of cars for global buyers. de Nysschen was specifically asked if Cadillac was considering building a halo car based on the forthcoming mid-engine Corvette and he answered that it has to be one of the options considered.

Here is the key passage from the Motor Trend interview:

[quote_box_center]Is a halo car based on the forthcoming mid-engine Corvette in the cards for Cadillac?

“It has to be one of the options that we consider. In the future there are going to be some architectures inside the corporation that will remain purely Cadillac, but then there are others where it just isn’t economically feasible to enter segments by trying to do a unique Cadillac. Then you look at what’s available in terms of corporate assets. And I’m sure you’d agree that a new, very advanced Corvette platform wouldn’t be a bad place to start. On the other hand, if we think about what could be a true halo car for Cadillac besides that, you could go in a completely different direction. Considering particularly our heritage, I could also imagine a very luxurious, very indulgent, very sophisticated four-door convertible being a good play that draws on our heritage.”
[/quote_box_center]

We agree that a 2-seater coupe/convertible sports car for Cadillac makes a lot of sense, especially when you see how the company wants to compete with Audi. Audi’s luxurious R8/R10 sports cars could use some good American competition in the form of a Corvette-based mid-engine Cadillac.

Chevy and Cadillac are also way beyond the badge engineering issues that dominated GM’s line-up in the 1980s/1990s and so we believe it would make good business sense for the two companies to share some of the engineering costs and then let each brand define exactly how their mid-engine sports car would be outfitted.

Regardless of whether or not Cadillac can make a business case to offer a mid-engine sports car, it does appear that the Corvette team has already moved past that point and that we could indeed see Zora Arkus-Duntov’s dream of a production mid-engine Corvette finally come to fruition.


Source:
Motor Trend via BoldRide.com

Related:
GM’s Trouble With Aussie Trademark Registration Reveals Details about Mid-Engine Corvette Zora
[PICS] Bold Ride Renders the 2017 Zora ZR1 Mid Engine Corvette
Bob Lutz Recounts Early Work on the Mid Engine Zora ZR1 Corvette Program

 



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