[VIDEO] Chevrolet Was Prepared to Build the C7 and C8 Corvette Simultaneously

By
Keith Cornett
-
6
5052

[VIDEO] Chevrolet Was Prepared to Build the C7 and C8 Corvette Simultaneously

Photo Credit: Sebastian Pietrzyk / Facebook


Former Corvette Assembly Plant director Kai Spande may have retired from his work last summer, but the Corvette fan in him is still living large. Kai was recently at the Texas Corvette Association’s 31st Annual Open Car Show in Boerne, Texas and he was interviewed by Joe Tegtmeyer during the event.

In that conversation, Kai confirmed a major rumor that was going around during the run-up to the C8 Corvette’s reveal, and it turns out that it was true!

As Chevrolet was preparing for the C8, nearly $1 billion was made into getting the Corvette Assembly Plant ready for production. During that time, there was concern by the automaker that the new C8 mid-engined Corvette might not be well received, especially coming on the heels of the successful C7 generation.

So as to not alienate those customers, the plan was to introduce the new mid-engine C8 Corvette while still producing the C7 Corvette. Both cars were to be produced simultaneously in Bowling Green, and customers who were not sure about the new mid-engine architecture could still buy a new front-engine C7 Corvette.

Kai says that once the Corvette Team saw just how good the C8 Corvette was and that it could stand on its own, the decision was made to move forward with the C8 only. The retired plant manager said that the decision was a relief as it was much easier to focus on just one model at the time, which allowed the production team the ability to streamline and reduce the number of tooling stations needed to produce just the C8.

While the rumor was put to bed a long time ago, it’s nice to have confirmation that what people were telling us behind the scenes at the time was indeed correct.

Joe also asks Kai about the consolidation of options, and his response is also pretty interesting. You can see the full seven-minute interview here:


Source:
Joe Tegtmeyer / YouTube

Related:
Car and Driver Still Believes C7 and C8 Corvettes Will Be Produced Together
[VIDEO] Corvette Assembly Plant Director Kai Spande Announces His Retirement
[VIDEO] Watch This 2023 Corvette Z06 Legends Panel With Corvette Team Members at Barrett-Jackson

Subscribe Now:

 



-

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

6 COMMENTS

  2. Wish they would have continued C7 production for all the Corvette enthusiasts who don’t really care for the mid engine car.

  3. I would have upgraded my C7 Grand Sport by now if this really happened. I constantly get comments at car shows like my C7 is the perfect Corvette or that’s what a Corvette should look like. Love the ability to work on an accessible engine.

  4. This isn’t new news. Tadge said the same back in late 2019, when they showed the C8 at Carlisle and at the 25th Anniversary of the museum.

  5. It was the correct call. F/R layout was holding the platform back. Everyone who screams bloody murder about moving away from F/R will be dead in 10 years anyways (average age demographics says so). So it’s not like GM is losing much of anything.

    C8 brought in a much younger demographic–and that will work out much better for GM in the long run. Plus, GM would and could never bring an AWD F/R corvette to market.

    Now if they could just get the interior on the C8 up to snuff with luxury counterparts.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.