Automobile Magazine Renders the 2014 C7 Corvette

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Automobile Magazine Renders the C7 Corvette

In Automobile Magazine’s June 2012 issue, the editors break down a list of cars getting updates over the next two years and the C7 Corvette was one of the featured American cars in their sneak preview. Accompanying the article (and helping to sell magazines) is this rendered illustration of what Automobile Magazine thinks the front of the 2014 C7 Corvette will look like.

Like many of the car buff magazines these days trying to create a story when there really isn’t any new information, Automobile Magazine breaks down what everybody already has been talking about:

Given its recent financial troubles and resultant period of government oversight, it’s no surprise that GM has hewed to a fairly conservative course in preparing the latest (and now just plain late) new Corvette. As hard as it might be for us to understand, the idea of GM spending gobs of money to radically reengineer its screaming, tire-smoking supercar could in some circles be seen as less than prudent, especially when the current Vette is already a world-class performer. So, the upcoming new Corvette — the C7 for short — retains the current mechanical layout. Instead, efforts have gone into lowering weight, downsizing powertrains, and improving efficiency. We’re still looking at a V-8 engine, however, and the numbers bandied about for the base model are 5.5 liters and 440 hp — so this downsizing is evidently nothing too drastic. The V-8 will be direct-injected and the transmissions will add more gears, giving the Vette an eight-speed automatic and a seven-speed manual like the one in the new Porsche 911. The car will also be trimmed in size, and that, frankly, is welcome, but not quite as much as the promised higher-quality interior. Also welcome is a more adventurous design, considering the play-it-safe recent efforts. Chevrolet released a teaser in the form of the Stingray concept back in 2009, but that show car is pretty far off from the production version. Instead, we’re expecting something along the lines of what you see above, with the creases of today’s car more pronounced, a vaguely Ferrari 599 look to the profile, and a hint of Camaro in the taillights to build the Chevy family resemblance. It won’t be long before we’ll know how close this is to the real thing. We’ll get our first look at the next-generation Corvette in less than a year at the 2013 Detroit auto show before the car goes on sale as a 2014 model.

Actually, let’s throw some credit over to Automobile Magazine for mentioning the 8-Speed automatic transmission. We’re fairly certain this is going to happen as the same month that GM announced the $131 million investment into Bowling Green Assembly for the C7, they also announced $204 million for an all-new advanced 8-speed automatic transmission that will be made at GM’s transmission plant in Toledo, Ohio. GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson said at that announcement that the new 8-Speed transmissions are for “future vehicles that offer customers improved fuel economy and outstanding performance”. That sounds like a C7 Corvette to us!

The new 2014 C7 Corvette is expected to debut next January at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show with the first model – the standard coupe – being available at dealerships in the fall of 2013. We have heard that the standard Convertible will follow several months after that and the performance models, Z06 and ZR1, could come in the following model year.

Stay tuned to CorvetteBlogger.com for the latest C7 Corvette news.


Source:
Automobile Magazine

Related:
[VIDEO] C7 Corvette Prototypes Spotted Driving On Michigan Streets
Motor Trend Predicts the C7 Corvette Model Rollouts
C7 Corvette Illustration on Cover of Car and Driver’s April 2012 Magazine

 



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