looks awfully bloated, GM should take some lessons from Lotus

quote Originally posted by nosaint: looks awfully bloated, GM should take some lessons from Lotus

LOL.

Corvette's mid-engine prototypes from the past. Interesting!




This was overseen by John DeLorean when he was with GM. Looks like DeLorean DMC a bit.




I doubt this one is a mid-engine.

[This message has been edited by Fiero Vice (edited 10-10-2015).]

I used to have a Corvette book, and a subscription to a Corvette magazine. GM has done some interesting things with the platform over the years, which included a rear engine car, and a Wankel powered car. The rotary unfortunately came along just before the gas crisis of the 70's and the poor fuel economy of the engine killed it.

The rear engine car



A link to info on the rotary powered car known as the AeroVette shown above. https://history.gmheritagec...php/Corvette_4-Rotor



Finally, CERV II which was going to be a separate line of racing Corvettes, it had 4 wheel drive and was built like the Ford GT-40. CERV III, a twin turbo, 650hp, four wheel drive transverse engined car with lots more goodies. https://history.gmheritagec...V_I,_II,_III,_and_IV

So there it is, a little bit more of Corvette history.

[This message has been edited by Tuna Helper (edited 10-10-2015).]

quote Originally posted by Fiero Vice: ... I doubt this one is a mid-engine.

It was. A big block, mounted backwards...
http://www.corvettes.nl/gm_prototypes/astro2/

Zora? Like the Legend of Zelda fish men?

I wonder if Nintendo will sue?

quote Originally posted by Fiero Vice:

AMAZING!
Just 16 YEARS after it's first introduction, GM has finally succeeded in copying the Ferrari Modena 360

quote Originally posted by Raydar: It was. A big block, mounted backwards... http://www.corvettes.nl/gm_prototypes/astro2/

My comment was for the picture above in dark color that has no rear vents at all. Do you agree, Raydar? Thanks for the link.

[This message has been edited by Fiero Vice (edited 10-10-2015).]

quote Originally posted by GBglide: Zora? Like the Legend of Zelda fish men? I wonder if Nintendo will sue?

Or even Zora Arkus-Duntov, the father of the Corvette.

Hey, it is just another engine /trans swap for us to do.

quote Originally posted by randye: AMAZING! Just 16 YEARS after it's first introduction, GM has finally succeeded in copying the Ferrari Modena 360

This is not GMs drawing and this is not the car.

This was a magazines attempt at just stirring the pot as they have no real leads. I have seen up to 7 drawings at this point and most are not even close.

There is one out of the prototype and while bodied in a Holden Ute Body the green house and roof are exposed. It as the Chevy Reverse Mohawk rood we see on some of their new models including the new Camaro.

quote Originally posted by Fiero Vice: My comment was for the picture above in dark color that has no rear vents at all. Do you agree, Raydar? Thanks for the link.

Ah. Okay. That one appears to be front engined. Otherwise the sidepipes are just silly.

quote Originally posted by hyperv6: GM needs a car that people would like to make a kit car of. while these poster cars are not all about volume they do attract a lot of attention, excitement

Already DONE:

quote Originally posted by hyperv6: FYI they will sell this car in the hundreds and it will be much more than $100K. This will be GM's poster car and while few here will even own one used we all will look at it and wish we could just drive one once let alone own one. If you don't than you are not a real car guy or GM fan.

Let's get this straight. According to your thesis, GM is going to spend over a half a BILLION dollars developing a new vehicle that will only potentially sell "in the hundreds" simply to be it's "poster car" ? I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that economics and business are not your strong suits.

The Corvette has for a very long time been GM's "flagship" sports car model and is an icon, well known around the planet. It is the quintessential "American sports car"
The "posters" have been printed and more will be for a long time to come.

Simply to create a pre-pubescent boy's bedroom dream poster of a "super car" is not a sound business case or even rational thinking upon which to spend huge sums of investment capital to manufacture a new vehicle.

quote Originally posted by hyperv6: GM wants to be seen as a company that can compete on the same level as Benz. VW, BMW and any other.

Also DONE:

Corvette Racing scored six wins in the GTS/GT1 class at Le Mans (2001-02, 2004-06, and 2009). The team moved to the GT2 class in 2010, which was renamed GTE Pro in 2011.

EIGHT GT class wins at Le Mans and FIA World Championships as of 2015



How does the Corvette stack up compared to "Benz. VW, BMW and any other"?
Lets take a quick look back:

2011 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE Pro Top Five Finishers after 24 Hours:

1. 73 Beretta/Milner/Garcia, Corvette C6.R (2011 Corvette ZR1 $109,800 / 2011 Corvette Z06 $74,305 )
2. 51 Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander, Ferrari F458 Italia ($239,340 Street version)
3. 56 Priaulx/Muller/Hand, BMW M3 GT ($66,000 Street version)
4. 77 Lieb/Lietz/Henzler, Porsche 997 GT3 RSR ($175,900.00 Street version)
5. 76 Narac/Pilet/Armindo, Porsche 997 GT3 RSR ($175,900.00 Street version)

The Aston Martin Vantage cars, @ (£190,130 street version), (approx. $285,000), didn't fare well.



IF.....GM builds and markets a mid-engine Corvette model it will be because they believe that there is a large enough market for it and because they believe it makes sound economic and business sense.

They have nothing else to "prove".

quote Originally posted by hyperv6: The Ford GT and the many Supercars VW has are all showcase cars that really reflect well on a company as a whole as long as you get it right.

It has been over 50 years since Ford has won at Le Mans or anywhere else competing against cars even close to the same class as the Corvette.
The lone Ford GT in the highly publicized Ford GT *return* to Le Mans in 2011 was *slow* and poor handling and qualified nearly last in the field:
55 #68 Robertson Racing LLC Ford GT-R Mk. VII LM GTE Am 4:08.208 +42.470

NOTE: Edmunds online currently showing a few USED Ford GT Coupes from $198,970.......(mid-engine obviously )

"Ford GT will return to Le Mans on the 50th anniversary of the GT40's 1966 podium sweep

"Ford first showed the 2016 Ford GT in January at the North American International Auto Show and said the super car would go on sale in late 2016. It has a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V-6 engine with unique turbos, cams, pistons and rods to generate more than 600 horsepower."

"Pricing has not been announced for the mid-engine street car but it is expected to be about $400,000."

(HINT: Look up *Homologation* in the FIA rule book and the Le Mans rules, to understand why Ford has a few V6 400HP GT2s going for nearly 1/2 million dollars a pop....)

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 10-12-2015).]

glad to see Zora get the honor of the car named after him

when he first got the job at chevy
he lived up stairs in our house on ten mile road and the lake front
that house was built by the purple gang to smuggle booze from canada in the 20's
and had a garage that was like a huge barn you could get two large trucks in it
and a 40ft boat well with a lift in the back part on a canal
with only a narrow driveway showing to the street
GM allowed Zora to drive preproduction corvettes home but demanded secure inside parking
I can still remember riding with him in a v8 vett at 90mph in traffic
he was a very skilled race driver who had victory's in international races

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Question wonder and be wierd
are you kind?

Neat story, rayb.