Wasn't Tom Peter the Design manager for this Corvette when it was being developed? What is it, Tom takes early retirement and gets removed from the story?
Kirk was my instructor for three years at CIA. Happy to see him killing it. He was a great guy, teacher, and a hell of a racer. Although he wasn't keen on the idea when I proposed the Vette go mid-engine back in '94. Guess I was too ahead of the curve for GM.
From Hemmings https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2019/07/31/styling-the-future-exhibit-brings-gm-concept-cars-to-the-audrain-automobile-museum/?refer=news DREAM CARS, SHOW CARS AND PROTOTYPES “Styling the Future” exhibit brings GM concept cars to the Audrain Automobile Museum Kurt Ernst on at 8:58 am Image Unavailable, Please Login SHARE Styling the Future: A History of GM Design and Concept Cars, a new exhibit debuting at the Audrain on Friday, August 2, features a gathering of iconic show cars on loan from the GM Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan and the Lingenfelter Collection in Brighton, Michigan. Curated by historian and author Donald Osborne, Styling the Future features a dozen of GM’s most influential concepts, a quantity that the Audrain claims has never before been shown together in a curated museum setting. The 1938 Buick Y-Job–widely considered to be the first concept car–will be on hand, but so will the 2003 Cadillac Sixteen concept, displayed alongside a 1931 Cadillac Fleetwood V-16, the automobile that served as its inspiration. Image Unavailable, Please Login 1951 Le Sabre concept. Other vehicles in the exhibit include the jet-fighter-inspired 1951 Le Sabre concept, which boasted technology like a rain sensor to close its top, heated seats, and a lightweight magnesium body over a honeycomb aluminum floorpan; the 1953 Cadillac Le Mans, with its power-operated memory seats; the 1958 Firebird III, which previewed styling traits (such as the lower quarter panel fins that appeared on the ’61 Cadillac); and the rocket-themed 1959 Cadillac Cyclone, which showcased proximity sensors for accident avoidance and sported automatic sliding doors. 1973 Chevrolet Aerovette. Corvette concepts are well represented in the exhibit, too. Planned displays include the 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Test Mule EX-87, the first research-only Corvette to be powered by a V-8 engine; the 1954 Chevrolet Corvair concept, which envisioned what a first-generation Corvette coupe might have looked like but was doomed by slow sales of the original Corvette; the 1961 Mako Shark concept, designed by Larry Shinoda, which helped to influence the styling of the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray; and the 1973 Chevrolet Aerovette, a mid-engine concept that was supposed to be powered by a four-rotor Wankel engine and boasted digital instrumentation a decade before this hit production. Image Unavailable, Please Login 1990 GM Impact Experimental. Perhaps the most controversial vehicle in the display is the 1990 Impact Experimental, a battery-powered car that foretold a future where electric vehicle sales would be mandated and not merely subsidized. Sculpted in a wind tunnel for a low drag coefficient, the Impact Experimental would later be produced, in slightly updated form, as the GM EV1 electric car from 1996-’99. Leased only to residents of Los Angeles, Phoenix and Tucson, the EV1 was meant to test the demand for electric cars among consumers, as well as the complexities and potential profitability of building such vehicles. At the end of the program, the 1,117 EV1s produced were recalled with no provision for private ownership, and the vast majority were destroyed (to the suspicion of conspiracy theorists everywhere). Excluding the series hybrid Chevrolet Volt, it would take GM another 13 years to release its next battery electric vehicle, the 2012 Spark EV. Styling the Future: A History of GM Design & Concept Cars will run through November 11, 2019. For additional details, visit AudrainAutoMuseum.org.
Not at all. Tom has been the 'face' of the C8 from the beginning. He's being inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame later this month. Kirk was also there from the very beginning. These things can be awkward when the original participants retire and the new guy had nothing to do with the car. Not so in this case.
Had my first chance to see the new Corvette "in the flesh" recently. I have to say: pictures really don't do it justice. The design "works" even better in person. What has impressed me most, though, is the number of non-car people who are intrigued and attracted to it.
Not awful or wonderfully unique. Just kind of meh. Not meaning to be a jerk, but we are all adults and shouldnt be required to sugar coat anything.
Absolutely agree. The straight on side view while still good misses just how much 3 dimension form work the car has. Sheer design that was far from being folded paper.
A friend, Andrew Hanzel, of over 40 years posted these on his Facebook page, so i thought I'd post them here .Just because. Buick designs from the '80's. Awesome work. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Slightly off topic: has anyone checked out the new Volvo V60 wagon? Not the lifted crossover version, but the proper wagon / estate. I saw one today in dark blue (denim) metallic. It is a lovely, sleek cohesive design. I am likely not the only one who has been “sleeping on” the new Volvos. Their midsize cars look fantastic
At the time and to this day, that was the Corvette I really wanted - Soft curves, and shape lines in equal measure; really sophisticated design. BTW, didn't realize that the brown "reference" car you shot me last week was yours!
Corvette Indy is another design that stood the test of time, 33 years! Love the shots taken on the outskirts of Turin--where the car was built--so characteristic. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Puritalia Berlinetta...... Image Unavailable, Please Login https://www.designboom.com/technology/puritalia-berlinetta-salon-prive-geneva-08-04-2019/?utm_source=designboom+daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=puritalia+berlinetta+pairs
Don't know if this has been posted earlier, but this just came to my attention in an email. This is the Lexus LF-1 Limitless concept vehicle. It reminds me a little bit of the old Toyota Venza. What is interesting is the "open" top. In reality, there is a flat black backbone running down the middle. Wonder how this design would do in roof crush tests? Also of note is the tiny equilateral triangle in the C pillar. Doesn't look like it is more than 1" in size. This has to be the smallest window ever mounted in a vehicle. I'll spare you the spindle grill- they're all starting to look alike now. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
