When the C8 Corvette started becoming more than a rumor mill, when mules that didn’t look like Holden utes started appearing, when it became apparent that GM was actually going to go through with a plan that was over fifty years in the making, one question started cropping up: How in the hell did it take fifty years for General Motors to actually go through with it? How did decades of concept cars, an entirely different engine design, recessions, internal politics, union problems, technological problems, and just about any and every other issue whatsoever wind up turning out what has proven to be a shockingly good product, the car that would’ve brought a tear of happiness to the corner of the eye of Zora Arkus-Duntov if he could’ve seen it in person. How does that happen?
The short answer: perseverance, hope, and straight-up bull-headed mindsets. The mid-engined Corvette lives today because of the drive by certain elements within the Corvette team to see it live. The long answer? Well…that’s where The Roman from Regular Car Reviews comes in. He’s been stuck on the story of the Corvette for a bit and in the third part of his saga, he finally aims directly at the lineage from the original C1 cars to the latest, mid-engined Corvette. Check it out:
So when I see a Vette now from the front I ask myself, Ferrari, McLaren? No Vette? I understand why they did it, but the last of the front engine warriors with that classic V8 sound is what hooked us, and the Europeans at LeMans. It may be faster, better balanced, etc but it is not cooler . Sorry Chevy. There was something to be said about a front engined V8 Boomer taking on the Euros. Now it is just a generic mid engine in a surprisingly large mid engine category.