It’s finally almost here. After teasing the public with stillborn design studies and engineering mules dating all the way back to the late 1960s, Chevrolet is about to introduce a mid-engine Corvette that the public will actually be able to buy. It was a longtime dream of the Corvette’s creator and champion, the late Zora Arkus-Duntov, to see his beloved Corvette evolve into a true mid-engine sports car. And the author Paul Van Valkenburgh intensively examined the CERV 1 and CERV 2 engineering concept cars in his landmark design history Chevrolet – Racing? 14 Years of Raucous Silence. This time, in preparation for the 202 model year, it’s really going to happen.
Next Thursday, Chevrolet will unveil the production mid-engine Corvette in a globally livestreamed reveal from Orange County, California, which will begin on July 18th at 7:30 p.m. PDT, 10:30 p.m. in the east. There’s an online link that will allow viewers to follow the livestreaming, which will also take place over Chevrolet’s social-media channels. We’re still not sure exactly what the world is getting here, although Chevrolet has dangled camouflaged versions of the new Corvette in front of the public, as seen here in this corporate image captured during the car’s brief drive through Manhattan in April. Proportionately, the eighth-generation car kind of resembles a Lotus Esprit Turbo from some angles, albeit with less pronounced creases in the bodywork. Very few mechanical particulars have been made public so far, although most speculation indicates the C8 Corvette will get its own version of the LT2 V-8 now installed in the rear-drive Corvette Gran Sport, expected to produce around 500hp in base trim. A seven-speed automatic gearbox with dual clutches is expected to be the sole transmission offered.
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