[VIDEO] Latest Jay Leno’s Garage features Corvette Chief Tony Roma Talking about Cadillacs and Corvettes

Executive Corvette Chief Engineer Tony Roma recently visited Jay Leno’s Garage to reminisce on the first Cadillac V-Series vehicles, specifically the Cadillac CTS-V. Tony has been involved in all of the V-Series since the beginning, starting as a powertrain integration engineer before eventually becoming Chief Engineer of the Cadillac V-Series lineup. However, a couple of times the discussion turns to the Corvette program.

Jay has his Gray 2012 CTS-V that has the 6-speed manual transmission while an earlier version from 2007 is also shown during the walkaround phase. One of the stats that Tony offers is that buyers of the new fourth-generation CT5-V are more likely to purchase the car with a manual transmission versus an automatic. The V-Series with the highest percentage of manuals was the 2nd gen V-Series Wagons. “The most hardcore out of all of them were the wagon buyers,” says Roma.

We watched the entire video, and Jay did slip in a couple of interesting questions about the Corvette program.

JAY: “You know I said it’s like a four-Seater Corvette. Is that something you we’re shooting for or you kind of bristle at that?”

TONY: “No, and now that I work on Corvettes again and I take it as the compliment I think it’s intended to be, right? As a brand this is more sophisticated. Our targets on a car like this frankly in a lot of ways is a little more difficult than a Corvette. The noise and vibration targets, you know, when you’re not on track, when you’re not driving aggressively, this car is expected to be much more refined than a Corvette. I think the only reason people would bristle up is that it’s as harsh and you know two-seat Corvette is a little different animal and that’s what you’re buying when you buy a Corvette. This needs to be a Corvette performance and the sophistication of a Cadillac, and that’s what I think we’ve done.”

Later on during the driving phase of the show, Jay asks this to the new Corvette Chief Engineer about additional Corvette-branded vehicles or even if Corvette will be a stand-alone brand.

JAY: I know there was talk of making Corvette a standalone brand, right? With an SUV and things like that. Is that something that may happen?

TONY: “There’s a lot of talk out in the world about that, and that’s all I’ll say.

JAY:: “Okay…all right…oh, that’s interesting!

Remember that GM President Mark Reuss was on the Jay Leno show back in September 2024. Jay hit him with the same question about a separate Corvette brand, and Mark replied they would never let Corvette separate from Chevrolet.

This was another great episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, and I appreciate how he occasionally goes back in time to discuss these older cars like the first-gen CTS-Vs. Plus, it gives us another opportunity to hear more from our new Executive Chief Engineer, Tony Roma, who talks more about the Corvette while he and Jay are driving.

From Jay Leno’s Garage via YouTube:

The Cadillac CTS-V is the ultimate blend of American performance and luxury, packing a V8 and delivering jaw-dropping speed. Jay Leno puts it to the test—does it live up to its legendary name?

Source:
Jay Leno’s Garage / YouTube

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