mid engine corvette qtr panels leaked photo

It's either a rise or part of the design language - since the C5, the Corvette's had a big ass.

 

I like the hood buldge. They are always nice on a ME auto. ;-) I'm sure it won't be there, I hope.

 

It's a camouflaged mule, with all sorts of Styrofoam stuffed under the body cladding (you can see a big block of it on the rear fender in the 3/4 rear shot). I'm not sure of the front/rear overhangs....I think the rear may be as much as we are seeing, based on the photo of the painted front fascia from Bowling Green, I would bet there's at least 8 inches of styro under the cladding, adding to the length.

Don't forget that this:


Became this:
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I disagree. I think the C6/C7 rear ends have been in scale with the rest of the car. The C5 rear end was the fault (I think) of Jerry Palmer. The original design for the C5 did NOT have a spare tire well in the trunk because the car was going to have runflats. Late in the design phase, Palmer blinked and made them put a spare tire well in the trunk, which necessitated the design team turning the mufflers 90 degrees and widening the rear to accommodate that. It is, without question, the worst part of the C5 design.

 

My post had a typo - it should have said it's either a RUSE (e.g. Camouflage) or it has a big ass.

We can disagree on the C6 / C7, but in my opinion, Chevy's design team seems to forget the rear - they've been too big and ugly for the rest of the car. C4 and prior were always elegant imho.

 

The thing I wish they (GM) would get away from is doing the 2 tone rear end (C6/C7), the C4 had a solid color rear fascia which looks better IMO. The C5 had the solid color rear also but there was NO hiding the butt on that thing (maybe Sir Mix A lot was in on the design). Anyhow, it is funny that over on Corvette Forum, there is this small but very vocal minority that can actually SEE what the finished car is going to look like under all that camo (so they believe) and have decided that it's ugly....Of course, these are the same guys that have hated the C7 since it's intro in 2013

 

I prefer black cars in general (except for all of the dusting and washing), but it was especially important to me when I bought a c7. Though not the same color, the two tone effect is much less noticeable. This applies to the other carbon flash trim bits, as well.

 

What I can say is this - the car is already controversial enough, the design has to be a hit. It also has to be original, not derivative, and I believe retain some of the Corvette "design language" of previous cars (which is why the round tail lights were important to me).

That being said, they should take some risks. Personally, I hated the 570 / 650 / P1 designs, but man have they grown on me. In particular, the 570 - it's different, but clean. The front is a little off, but the rear is outstanding, and from the side it cuts a beautiful profile.

I have faith they'll do something cool - from the rear 3/4, the mule looks awesome. From the side, it looks too much like a C7. From the front 3/4, the rear looks to wide.

It's a mule, so I'm sure it's heavily padded / camouflaged...let's see when they reveal it.

 

Here's a good shot that seems to show the rear is HEAVILY padded / camouflaged...I've (poorly) attempted to outline what looks like a large piece of cladding covering up the actual rear (before / after):

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You're right. The rear looks huge, but the overall proportions may be much better once the camo and padding is removed. Also, it looks like there's a dove-tail spoiler under there perhaps, which is also causing the proportions to look a little big.

 

Just like this example shown below the back of the car is big because that is where the motor is located. Also what some consider excessive rear fender height is a result of aerodynamic and suspension design considerations for road and track use.
Note how high the tail lights sit in the second picture. There is very little rear fender padding showing on this example...

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According to the Grand Tour guys, the mid-engine Vette will be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show.

https://**********.com/p/reveal-date-of-mid-engined-corvette-FXgJMs89QbaNOwpXrj2_KQ?iid=fb4kAYdrRJORfggCaHt3FA&utm_campaign=GTN&utm_medium=fb&utm_source=network

Can anyone confirm? I had not seen this anywhere else.

 

^^^^
I think that's wishful thinking (but I'm happy to be wrong). I do think it will be revealed at Detroit, but in 2019.
It just doesn't make sense to unveil the C7 ZR1 and less than 2 months later the mid-engine car. Talk about killing the ZR1 before the first customer car gets delivered....

Also, there seems to be a time line that GM seems to use on the amount of camo on these new cars. As we got closer to the ZR1 unveiling, the cars photo'd in public were less and less camo'd. The mid-engine car is still buried in Styrofoam/vinyl/curly cue wrap.

 

Guess we’ll find out next Monday..........

 

I'm tired of hearing about it.

Just show the damn thing already.

 

^^^^
Indeed we will. I doubt it's going to be shown because there has been zero pre-show build up by GM. When the C7 was shown in January 2013, they (GM) made it WELL known that the car would be unveiled.

 

Agreed - it certainly looks like they will.

 

I hope you're right but based on certain guys in the know at Corvette Forum, it's January 2019

 

I'd be Ok to wait until January 19 I just want them to nail it.

 

The mid-engine Corvette has been the car industry's Bigfoot/Jackie O./Lochness Monster for 4 decades now. I think GM will knock it out of the park. I can't wait to buy one!!!!

 

No, You Aren’t Going To See The Mid-Engine Corvette. The new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is a fantastic machine, an example of the brilliant work GM’s True Believers can do when they put their minds to it. And though it will be a momentous machine for years to come, the harsh reality is that the ZR1 will unfortunately be lost in the shuffle of anticipation. Truth be told, GM’s Best and Brightest have been hard at work on the eighth generation of the Corvette for four years now, which will finally be the mid-engine Corvette that GM has danced around for decades, and which the Corvette Faithful has fantasized about for at least that long. But you will not see the new mid-engine Corvette in Detroit this year (the latest spy photos have only added fuel to the anticipatory fire). The likely scenario will be that the vaunted “C8” will either make its debut one year from now in Detroit at the 2019 show, or GM will stage a media “fly-in” unveiling at a race track sometime late next summer.
From this week’s Autoextremist.com

 

I see hot lanta as fertile ground...

 

I’m predicting LeMans in June

 

will that be the usual 'one dollar' bet?

 

That would be perfect-since most of the Corvette's LeMan's competitors are either ultra low production exotics or platforms that don't even align with their street counterparts, it will be nice for the best team in gt racing to raise the bar yet again.