Right as I’m about to hit the sack to rest up for tomorrow’s big opening day celebration of the track at the National Corvette Museum, my phone goes absolutely ballistic. Several friends of mine who have equated working at BangShift with becoming the Automotive All-Knowing asking if I had heard things or seen things. Half-asleep, I grunted and started looking through the links they sent me. Needless to say, I’m wide awake.

The C7 Corvette is selling amazingly well, especially considering General Motors’ otherwise currently infamous reputation. And they should: the cars look the business, run like hell, and compared to other Corvettes, have fit and finish not seen since the Mako Shark-era C3’s. But two particular models were not present at the launch last year: The Z06 and the ZR1.

Only within the last week or two (that I’m aware of) has the Z06 been known. In fact, there’s one and a half Z06’s sitting on the floor of the lobby in the museum. How do I know? While I was picking up press passes earlier today I snapped a few pictures with my phone.

As for the rumors of a mid-engined Corvette, the most logical source I’m willing to run with is Angus MacKenzie and the guys at Motor Trend. I’m not going to repeat what they wrote, but you can CLICK HERE and check it out for yourself. In short, MacKenzie and crew make one hell of a compelling argument that has substance to it. As for me, here’s the reason why I have hope: There were several cars on the floor in the museum’s lobby. The Z06’s, a early production Corvette parked next to the first 1963 Z06, the giveaway cars for this weekend, and this. It’s covered and the guy standing nearby in street clothes my size was watching everybody that got close. It’s roped off and will be unveiled Thursday afternoon. All I can tell is that the majority of the shape is C7 ‘Vette, I don’t know what the bump is in the middle of the hood but it doesn’t match other C7’s, and there isn’t an obvious mis-shape that would indicate a floorpan adjustment or body reworking.

Is this a mid-engined C7? I highly doubt it. Will we see a mid-engined Corvette? It’s too early to tell. Give it about six or seven years for the first prototype cars to start making their rounds before we start guessing on the C8/ZR1 going mid-ship. With GM trademarking “Zora” for a car name in the meantime, though, I’m willing to bet that they have something interesting up their sleeve that we will see sooner than later.