Mid-Engine Corvette Rumors Quashed by Chief Engineer
Chevrolet Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter might have put rumors of a new rear mid-engine Corvette to bed.
Rumors of General Motors developing a sports car under the Corvette name that would use a mid-rear mounted engine aren’t new, but speculation that GM might finally be developing a more direct competitor to cars like the Ferrari 488 GTB and Lamborghini Huracan rose after GM trademarked the “Zora” name and spy photos emerged of what looks like a heavily camouflaged sports car with a Corvette rear end.
During an interview with Autoline After Hours, one of the hosts asked Juechter about rumors that a mid-engined Corvette supposedly appeared briefly during a TV program. “I’ll have to check that out, because I know no such car exists,” he said.
Even so, Chevrolet studied the idea of switching from an FR to MR powertrain layout for the Corvette in the past. During the program Juechter cited the current Corvette, saying GM explored the possibility of moving to a rear engine design, but that moving in that direction required sacrificing too much everyday driving comfort.
Juechter’s denial comes months after several major automotive magazines ran cover stories suggesting that inside sources claim that General Motors is developing a mid-engine supercar.
In a rare surprise, Ford’s upcoming GT supercar made its debut during the Detroit Auto Show last January in production form without a concept preview before its planned arrival for the 2017 model year.
[Source: Autoline]
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Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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Am I the only one who can read between the lines a bit here? Maybe GM is developing a true super car on par with the Ford GT / Ferrari's that is NOT the Corvette. Maybe this super car is a totally new car on a new platform. This new car being priced at $200,000+ will be in a different market then the Corvette and will not impact sales of the Corvette very much. Cadillac is trying to come out with a $250,000 car to compete with Rolls, so why can't Chevrolet have a $200,000 super car?
They trying to pull what FORD has done with the new GT trying to keep their lips shut