[VIDEO] Million Dollar French Super Car Prato Orage is Actually a Corvette C6 Underneath

Is there a little plagiarizing going on in the automotive world?

One British journalist thinks so, asserting this week on Twitter that a small-time French automaker is trying to pass off a C6 Corvette as its own supercar developed in-house.

In a recent tweet, Lewis Kingston contends that the Prato Orage is really just a C6 Corvette underneath, pointing out several reasons for his belief.

“Aside from its general configuration and shape, the steering column/shifter position was the first thing that set me thinking,” Kingston tweeted. “Then there are the dead giveaways, such as the mirror/window switches. Minor details further reveal its origins, such as the brake caliper positioning.” Furthermore, Kingston notes that the 8.1-liter V-8 – which Prato claims on its company website is the most powerful naturally aspirated V-8 used by a production car with 900 horsepower – sounds quite the same as an ordinary Chevy pushrod V-8.

While it’s not uncommon for small automakers to borrow engines from the General Motors parts bin, usually they don’t try to pass them off as their own. The Prato website makes no mention of the Corvette that we could find.

But if you’re thinking this latest supercar might be a bargain since it’s just a fancied-up C6 Corvette, think again. The Orage (which means “thunderstorm” in French) will carry a price tag of $955,000 – so we’d suggest buying a C7 ZR1 and pocketing the change or maybe buying six ZR1s in different colors. Better yet, maybe get a sample of the upcoming C8 in all 12 colors.

Of course, the Orage will definitely make you stand out in a crowd with its bold design, not to mention a couple of alleged “firsts” that would give you bragging rights with your millionaire buddies: the world’s first full OLED technology for its optics and the world’s first 24-carat gold connectors for full reliability in extreme conditions. Is that worth nearly a million dollars to you?

Source:
TheDrive.com

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