Could the C8 Corvette Come out of a Reality Show?

News of a new reality show for aspiring car designers sponsored by Chevrolet got me to thinking – could the next-gen Corvette come out of a reality show?

The new TV series, Motor City Masters, will pit 10 aspiring car designers against one another on truTV testing both their exterior and interior design capabilities.

The 10-episode show, hosted by Brooke Burns, former star of Baywatch and Melrose Place, will be based in Los Angeles with a series finale in Detroit.

Show participants will be judged in areas such as creativity, execution and the forward-thinking in their work.  After a series of elimination rounds, the top two designers will face off in front of members of Chevy’s design team.

The judges will include Jean Jennings, president and editor-in-chief of Automobile Magazine, and car designer Harald Belker, known for his work on automobiles in the movie Minority Report.

The overall winner will be crowned “The Next Great Car Designer” and receive a 2014 Camaro Z28, $100,000 in cash, and the chance to showcase his/her designs at major auto show exhibitions.

Do you say it’s a bit far-fetched to think one of the contestants could end up working on the C8 Corvette? Well, consider this.

In recent years, automakers have been known to tug on young talent to freshen their product lineups.  And while most have been completely awestruck by the design of the new Corvette, it too will run its course one day and join the ranks of other classic ‘Vettes produced over the years.

It’s just the nature of the beast as competition continues to raise the stakes for car designers in the industry at a much faster pace than years past.

That said, I sincerely doubt General Motors is anywhere close to handing over the reins to some aspiring designer. Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to Ed Welburn, GM’s Vice President of Global Design, and he’s very particular about the vehicles developed under his watch — especially halo cars like the Corvette.

Still, few people expected a reality show to give birth to one of the biggest music artists of this past decade: Carrie Underwood.

Now here we are, six Grammy Awards later, reveling in the success of that young 22-year-old aspiring singer who took the stage on American Idol in 2005 hoping for her shot at stardom.  And while there’s far more flexibility in singing than designing vehicles for the mass market, that too is quickly evolving.