If you’ve been watching the various Corvette forums over the past few years, you’ve no doubt seen the rumor that Chevy planned to offer mid-engine and front-engine versions of the Corvette simultaneously.
Some thought it could be the beginning of a separate Corvette brand that might even include a high-powered SUV.
But now we know the dual engine placement was just a rumor on the ol’ Interweb.
In fact, when gmauthority.com asked GM President Mark Reuss at the 7-18-19 event if the company ever planned to produce the C8 and C7 at the same time, as a way of hedging their bets about making such a drastic change, he responded: “That wasn’t something that we planned. This [mid-engine Corvette C8] was always the replacement.”
That really makes sense to us. Based on the overwhelming response we’ve seen to the mid-engine ever since its unveiling on July 18, we’re inclined to believe that had both versions been offered, the front-engine sales would have been very low, with only a few “never-midders” holding on to the past.
To us, the Corvette has always represented the exciting future of the automobile, ever since its original unveiling in 1953 and especially with the radically different 1963 Sting Ray. Fast forward to today, and we’re thrilled about the rumors of an electric or hybrid version of the C8 Corvette because we know Chevy would do such a car right. While the Bolt and Volt are well-done cars, would we really want a future without an electric sports car like the “E-Ray,” for example?
Some people are wondering if the mid-engine will cool off once this initial hype fades, leading to declining sales for the C8. That could happen, but imagine if the Corvette had remained front-engine – would there have been this much excitement over the unveiling of a front-engine C8? While die-harders like us would have been thrilled to get any kind of a new Corvette, it’s our opinion that going mid-engine has breathed new life into the Corvette that hopefully will last for another 67 years, well past the Baby Boomers.
Of course, with the auto industry in such turmoil over autonomous cars and the like, we wonder what the market will even look like in 2087. But we can hope it includes a Corvette.
Source:
gmauthority.com
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My only question is what will become of these preliminary C-8s once production gets underway and the general public can buy one ?
We will certainly see if the ” excitement “carries over to sales, won’t we?????????
That rumor started with Bob Lutz and it was a brilliant idea. But Lutz was retiring at the time and never pushed it. Good enough for Ferrari, good enough for Porsche.
As far as midengine sales, Bowling Green will be extremely busy…….now that we know the base price of the C8, it makes no sense to continue the C7 (most potential customers feared a starting price of $100K).
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