The Future C7 Corvette
General Motors has been tight
lipped about the 7th generation of the fabled Chevrolet Corvette but
some recent news about $890 million in upgrades to GM’s small block V8
engine facilities have bolstered rumors of new engines. The key piece
of information is that the C7 Corvette will not stay with the current
6.2L LS3 engine but instead, it will feature a new 5.5L V8 small block.
The rumors suggest that the 5.5L V8 will offer only a slight
improvement in horsepower, going from 430 to 440, but thanks to direct
injection technology this smaller displacement V8 will offer improved
fuel economy over the already gas-friendly LS3.
The appearance of the C7 Corvette is a much debated item around the
automotive world but GM has given no indication as to what to expect.
The ?50th Anniversary Corvette Stingray Concept Design? offered sharp
styling and the familiar split window coupe design from the 1963
Corvette coupes but even though that sleek concept found its way onto
the big screen in the Transformers movie, we are not likely to see
anything that dramatic from the C7 Corvette. There have been a great
many rumors that in 2013 we will see a 50th anniversary edition of the
1963 split window coupe but with the outrageous safety standards in the
US, could GM really make a Corvette with a beam running down the center
of the rear window? If we do get a reincarnation of the split window
design, expect it to be a high dollar and low volume production.
Early in the life of the C6 Corvette, some of the Chevrolet diehards
voiced their displeasure with the fact that GM had gone away from the
familiar hide-a-way headlights but the booming sales of the C6 Corvette
shows that the fixed headlights were received fairly well by those
looking to buy a new sports car.
When might we know more about the C7 Corvette? Figure that a major
announcement like the 7th generation of the Chevrolet Corvette would
come months before the models hit the market and new models typically go
on sale in the middle of the previous calendar year (example: 2011
Cadillac CTS Coupes became available in July 2010). With that in mind,
the 2013 Corvette would probably become available mid-2012 which would
lead me to believe that the car itself would debut as early as the 2011
North American International Auto Show in Detroit or as late as the 2011
LA Auto Show.