Remember the days when automakers would test the bounds of design and innovation by showing off concept cars at shows or allowing them to be used in movies? Corvette has a rich history of design concepts which may have been used to gauge public feedback, or just simply showing what designers are able to dream up. Names like the 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer, the Mako Shark, Astrovette, and the Stingray Concept (which appeared as Sideswipe in the Transformers movie franchise) are just some of the Corvette-inspired concepts we’ve come to love over the years. These concepts help to inspire both designers and enthusiasts as to what the future may hold for the car.
Now we have a new Corvette-inspired concept to share from GM’s new Advanced Design Studio now open in the United Kingdom, and more will be introduced later in the year. Chevy calls this a design study with no intention for these cars to be put into production, but it’s always interesting to see what their current designers are capable of.
The U.K. studio adds to GM’s global design footprint, and will be used to focus on European customers and cultural trends that can offer a fresh perspective with GM’s design network that spans Detroit, Los Angeles, Shanghai, and Seoul. With Cadillac scaling up its electric vehicles while a right-hand-drive Corvette is being sold in both the U.K. and Europe, it makes sense that General Motors would want to have a design presence in the European market.
“Our advanced design team’s mandate extends well beyond creating production vehicles,” said Michael Simcoe, senior VP of global design. “While they collaborate within our global design network on production and concept vehicle programs, these teams are primarily tasked with imagining what mobility could look like five, 10, and even 20 years into the future and driving innovation for GM.”
“As part of the Corvette creative study, we asked multiple studios to develop hypercar concepts, which we’ll see more of later this year,” Simcoe said. “It was important that they all pay homage to Corvette’s historic DNA, but each studio brought their own unique creative interpretation to the project. That is exactly what our advanced design studio network is intended to do – push the envelope, challenge convention and imagine what could be.”
The press release calls attention to the concept cars’ “Apex Vision design feature” that is highlighted by the center split windows and gull-wing doors. Supposedly, there is an augmented display from inside the car, but no renderings are shown of that. Instead, we focus on the racecar-inspired aesthetics with the dual air channels and active ducting that redirects the airflow through and over the vehicle.
Chevy also listed the dimensions of the concept which by the way needs a better name than simply calling it the UK advanced design studio concept. Those dimensions are slightly longer and about two inches wider than the current E-Ray/Z06 widebodies. The car also rides on a staggered set up of 22-inch front wheels and 23 inch rear wheels.
“One of the most unusual and significant aspects of our concept’s design is a feature known as Apex Vision,” said Thomson. “A nod to Corvette’s centerline focus, and inspired by the iconic ‘split window’ 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, this feature emphasizes a singular vertical central spine that is also a structural element, also providing a panoramic view of the road and surroundings.”
As another nod to the 1963 Corvette Split Window that we see is that the exterior design also has a horizontal design line around the entire concept that divides the lower half of the car from the top of the car. The release says the upper half captures the Corvette’s futuristic design elements while the lower half of the car is all about function including EV battery storage and the aerodynamics which they say channels air more efficiently and without the need for wings or spoilers.
U.K. Advanced Design Center Corvette Concept Specs
Concept technical specifications and assumptions:
Body structure:
- Additive manufacturing body structure
- For low mass, manufacturing efficiency, part count reduction and driving agility
- Halo roof structure with wind shield center spar
- Additive manufactured structure exposed for light weight authenticity
- Part integration, panel count reduction
- Full wrap around side glass to deliver Apex Vision
- Powered wing door design
- On-road efficiency and on-track performance in harmony
- Fan assistance and active ducting to redirect air over and through the vehicle
- On-road: flowing forms, functional intakes and vented surfaces
- On road: air directed through vehicles to fill its wake, increasing efficiency and range
- On track: like an aircraft wing, aero surfaces reconfigure, dorsal fins deploy and spoiler venting creates aero vectoring to enhance cornering performance
- Sculpted underbody, lowered ride height and fan assistance delivers ground effect
- Racecar inspired, package efficient, pushrod suspension set-up
- Windshield center spar augmented display
- 1033mm tall / 2178mm width / 4669mm length
- 22inch front wheel / 23inch rear wheel
- 127mm seat height – race car inspired
Source:
Pressroom.GM.com
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How about we design a corvette concept that is 69.99″ wide? The width has gotten entirely out of hand.
Agreed on the width @IPD. Maybe not C4 narrow, but some slimming is in order. Also will make for a smaller drag coefficient!
All said, not a bad concept. I see styling cues from the current C8 as well as a little of the Cadillac V Series.R GTP, even some of the Formula E RoboCar demonstrator.
I sure hope this thing won’t be an inspiration for the C9 Corvette. It looks hideous!
I must disagree with Robert, this is a very futuristic looking Vette the interior seats look comfortable. That being said Chevrolet would be hard pressed to bring this to reality for less than 200 grand. I would’nt want to see this as a fully electric vehicle maybe a hybrid like the E Ray.
Tron
Sharp, split windshield? But then I guess it’s no worse than some of the drivers I see on the road with tons of stupid bling hanging from the rear view mirror.
Get back to the drawing board.
Ha! Why didn’t they make the side windows ‘split’ too?
That concept is incredibly beautiful!! It is totally cool!! The designers of this prototype did an excellent job.
Jetdriver — my understanding is that the car’s “Windshield center spar augmented display” would display whatever would otherwise be blocked from the driver’s view by the centre spar, giving the driver an unobstructed forward view (ie. effectively making the centre spar invisible to the driver). I believe the upcoming ZR1 Corvette does something similar with its rear view “mirror” to give the driver a clear rearward view that is unobstructed by either the split rear window or the rear wing.
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