The mid-engine Corvette is easily one of the most talked about cars of the decade. It’s evolved from rumor to reality, and we’ve been on the case since it started to take shape. While we hunger for every scrap of information we can get, we also remain highly skeptical since there’s a ton of misinformation to sift through alleged ‘leakers’. The latest leak is what appears to be CAD drawings of the mid-engine Corvette, and while we remain skeptical, let’s cautiously examine them.
At some point yesterday morning, images appeared online that allegedly shows an in-progress mid-engine Corvette. We traced them as far as the Corvette Forum, but the images have since been removed before we even finished this article. Naturally, that has led to some close comparisons between the renderings, and what we’ve gotten from the spy photos. Yes, this certainly looks like the spied C8 in areas, but with GM still not even acknowledging its existence, how reliable are these images?
So let’s just assume they are legitimate, what are we looking at? The biggest thing we learn from these is that Corvette will be leaving the transverse leaf spring suspension behind for coilovers using magnetic or spool valve dampers. It’s also notable that the front suspension is similar to that of the C7, which would make sense so they could keep the cost of production down by using some of the same parts. The rear subframe of the car looks huge, but all things considered, it would have to be.
The drawings don’t show any equipment to indicate an ‘up’ model, evident by the lack of supercharger pulley or turbo present in the drawing; the engine looks like a run-of-the-mill LT1 6.2L engine, just in a new spot. It does seem to run shorty style headers, as opposed to conventional exhaust manifolds. It’s also a safe guess that we’re looking at an active mount system for the engine and transmission, which would help keep the car flat during cornering.
These are pretty convincing, but again, how do you verify the validity of the images when the car doesn’t officially even exist as far as the public is concerned?
Shawn Henry is a Texas native who has spent the majority of his career building and selling F-Bodies and Corvettes. Now studying journalism, he is taking a new direction with his love of GM Performance vehicles.
