It is no coincidence that the rumors of mid engine Corvette tend to fly very high when the pedestrian front engine +General Motors high performance staple goes through hard times, failing to deliver on the performance claims.
The first time the rumors started flying, it was during Zora Arkus-Duntov's time, with Zora quickly realizing the limitations of the front engine/rear wheel drive configuration in a car with racing aspirations.
The second time this happened, it was in the 70's, with Corvette becoming the quintessential joke among high performance enthusiasts while generating quite a sales success among the disco favoring and gold chain wearing crowds.
Apparently, three times is a charm, hence, it is time to resurrect the mid-engine Corvette pipe dream once again.
Why is it happening now? For the same exact reasons as in the past- the shit is hitting the fan as C7 problems continue to surface. Not only is the current generation completely flawed vehicle, in both design and its execution but on top of it, the car failed to deliver any of the much needed bragging rights.
Thus, once again, the mid-engine Corvette unicorn is up and running to give the Corvette enthusiasts at least an illusion of hope.
In the past, GM was able to make the mid-engine idea go away by replacing the failing generations of Corvette with competent front engine replacements, first with C4 and then with C5 and C6.
However, things are different now, there is no room left for improvement under the current design, C6 generation realized the full potential of the platform and C7 is there not to allow the Corvette legend to grow but to show the Corvette development is at its end.
Unlike GM, Ford realized this part long time ago, creating its previous flagship, Ford GT as a mid engine halo car, a legitimate contender to the ranks of supercars and completely separate from the run of the mill line up. To a degree, the idea worked although Ford botched the process by allowing a supercharged engine to reside in the car and thus, eliminating any racing aspirations. The last Ford GT was heavy, underpowered and quite dissapointing from the performance angle, however, it was a legitimate attempt, one that brings an amazing return on the investment smart buyers made.
Now, Ford is back, this time with a car that incorporates many lessons learned from the first attempt and these lessons clearly show Ford's understanding of weight loss importance, low drag aerodynamic aides and employment of turbo induction for a car advertised as a future LeMans entry.
GM on the other hand, never made a legitimate halo car effort, choosing instead their mainstream Corvette to become the basis for GM idea of supercar, first with Corvette ZR-1 and then with Corvette ZR1.
In reality, both times GM refused to spend the money and put the effort needed to create a stand alone supercar. Instead, GM chose to modify the existing Corvette platform, taking minimum steps to distinguish the cars visually and refusing to set them apart technologically, outside of a power plant. Although both times, the cars were great performers, to an untrained eye, it was impossible to tell them apart from their mass market cousins costing about half of what the halo Corvettes commanded.
This time, the effort to create another pseudo halo car failed big time, not only the usual recipe to hop up the Corvette ended up in the overheating failure called LT4 but the visual distinction happened to be of the worst possible variety, all the way to bullshit clear tail lights and visually repulsive fender extensions. The fact that idiot Juechter envisioned aerodynamically unsound shape, equipped with a supercharged low budget version of the base powerplant as the justification for supposedly best track capable Corvette ever only further exposed the sheer lunacy of the latest and most pathetic attempt.
Where the previous Corvette shined, at the Nurburgring track, the new one failed horribly, with the best the car could muster was less than one second over the previous generations, obviously horrible enough for GM and +Tadge Juechter to withdraw the 7:18 laptime as fast as it was mysteriously initially released.
Long and behold, the mid engine Corvette rumors are back. This time, the name Zora became the moniker for the proverbial carrot. Like magic, all current problems simply vanish, with the Zora, the car that is nothing less than figment of desperate imagination.
In reality, a mid engine Corvette will never happened and the sooner the Corvette enthusiasts realize this part, the sooner they may finally pursue other venues to satisfy their bragging and actual performance driving rights.
At this stage of the game, the main obstacle in the way of not just mid engine but even a conventional but well performing Corvette is its chief engineer, +Tadge Juechter . Juechter has already shown his incompetence by not only failing to deliver a better new Corvette generation but even worse, one that could outdo the previous generation. Not only did this idiot ignored some very basic principles of car design but in truly deranged way, Juechter decided to created a flagship car that could combine functions of two cars from the past: C6 Z06 and C6 ZR1. Already, it is established beyond a reasonable doubt that the new jack of all trades failed to match either one of the previous high performance Corvettes and to make it worse, the new flagship cannot even match the top speed of the previous base Corvette.
With these credentials, can anyone seriously expect this moron to have the capacity to come up with a vision of a legitimate mid engine supercar, especially when majority of the Corvette buyers happen to be well into their retirement age and well past their physical prime? One can only imagine what joke would that mid engine GM supercar be, designed for ease of entry and burdened with the requirement to accommodate two fully loaded golf bags while employing more bullshit technologies designed for GM trucks and SUV's and still riding on the same leaf springs and impossible to align suspension.
There is also another problem with mid engine Corvette, its purpose. As shown by the previous halo Corvettes, those cars were there to bring attention to the cheaper versions and improve their sales since to untrained eye, ZR1 is visually identical to the base car. But... can GM justify coming up with a new platform to justify another one? If the bean counters at GM refuse to equip the C7Z06 with an upgraded radiator, how would they stomach a completely new platform that by design, would be unprofitable? Anyone can answer this question, of course.
In reality, there is no mid engine Corvette and there never will be one. Furthermore, there is mid engine halo car coming from GM period, nothing that Juechter could stick Corvette emblems on, and there never will be. However, the supply of Pontiac Fiero is still great-this is as good as it will ever get with GM.
Thus, once again, the mid-engine Corvette unicorn is up and running to give the Corvette enthusiasts at least an illusion of hope.
In the past, GM was able to make the mid-engine idea go away by replacing the failing generations of Corvette with competent front engine replacements, first with C4 and then with C5 and C6.
However, things are different now, there is no room left for improvement under the current design, C6 generation realized the full potential of the platform and C7 is there not to allow the Corvette legend to grow but to show the Corvette development is at its end.
Unlike GM, Ford realized this part long time ago, creating its previous flagship, Ford GT as a mid engine halo car, a legitimate contender to the ranks of supercars and completely separate from the run of the mill line up. To a degree, the idea worked although Ford botched the process by allowing a supercharged engine to reside in the car and thus, eliminating any racing aspirations. The last Ford GT was heavy, underpowered and quite dissapointing from the performance angle, however, it was a legitimate attempt, one that brings an amazing return on the investment smart buyers made.
Now, Ford is back, this time with a car that incorporates many lessons learned from the first attempt and these lessons clearly show Ford's understanding of weight loss importance, low drag aerodynamic aides and employment of turbo induction for a car advertised as a future LeMans entry.
GM on the other hand, never made a legitimate halo car effort, choosing instead their mainstream Corvette to become the basis for GM idea of supercar, first with Corvette ZR-1 and then with Corvette ZR1.
In reality, both times GM refused to spend the money and put the effort needed to create a stand alone supercar. Instead, GM chose to modify the existing Corvette platform, taking minimum steps to distinguish the cars visually and refusing to set them apart technologically, outside of a power plant. Although both times, the cars were great performers, to an untrained eye, it was impossible to tell them apart from their mass market cousins costing about half of what the halo Corvettes commanded.
This time, the effort to create another pseudo halo car failed big time, not only the usual recipe to hop up the Corvette ended up in the overheating failure called LT4 but the visual distinction happened to be of the worst possible variety, all the way to bullshit clear tail lights and visually repulsive fender extensions. The fact that idiot Juechter envisioned aerodynamically unsound shape, equipped with a supercharged low budget version of the base powerplant as the justification for supposedly best track capable Corvette ever only further exposed the sheer lunacy of the latest and most pathetic attempt.
Where the previous Corvette shined, at the Nurburgring track, the new one failed horribly, with the best the car could muster was less than one second over the previous generations, obviously horrible enough for GM and +Tadge Juechter to withdraw the 7:18 laptime as fast as it was mysteriously initially released.
Long and behold, the mid engine Corvette rumors are back. This time, the name Zora became the moniker for the proverbial carrot. Like magic, all current problems simply vanish, with the Zora, the car that is nothing less than figment of desperate imagination.
In reality, a mid engine Corvette will never happened and the sooner the Corvette enthusiasts realize this part, the sooner they may finally pursue other venues to satisfy their bragging and actual performance driving rights.
At this stage of the game, the main obstacle in the way of not just mid engine but even a conventional but well performing Corvette is its chief engineer, +Tadge Juechter . Juechter has already shown his incompetence by not only failing to deliver a better new Corvette generation but even worse, one that could outdo the previous generation. Not only did this idiot ignored some very basic principles of car design but in truly deranged way, Juechter decided to created a flagship car that could combine functions of two cars from the past: C6 Z06 and C6 ZR1. Already, it is established beyond a reasonable doubt that the new jack of all trades failed to match either one of the previous high performance Corvettes and to make it worse, the new flagship cannot even match the top speed of the previous base Corvette.
With these credentials, can anyone seriously expect this moron to have the capacity to come up with a vision of a legitimate mid engine supercar, especially when majority of the Corvette buyers happen to be well into their retirement age and well past their physical prime? One can only imagine what joke would that mid engine GM supercar be, designed for ease of entry and burdened with the requirement to accommodate two fully loaded golf bags while employing more bullshit technologies designed for GM trucks and SUV's and still riding on the same leaf springs and impossible to align suspension.
There is also another problem with mid engine Corvette, its purpose. As shown by the previous halo Corvettes, those cars were there to bring attention to the cheaper versions and improve their sales since to untrained eye, ZR1 is visually identical to the base car. But... can GM justify coming up with a new platform to justify another one? If the bean counters at GM refuse to equip the C7Z06 with an upgraded radiator, how would they stomach a completely new platform that by design, would be unprofitable? Anyone can answer this question, of course.
In reality, there is no mid engine Corvette and there never will be one. Furthermore, there is mid engine halo car coming from GM period, nothing that Juechter could stick Corvette emblems on, and there never will be. However, the supply of Pontiac Fiero is still great-this is as good as it will ever get with GM.
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