CERV III Prototype - We Almost Got a Mid-Engine C5
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CorvetteForum Editor
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 1,693
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CERV III Prototype - We Almost Got a Mid-Engine C5
CERV III Prototype - We Almost Got a Mid-Engine C5
By Brett Foote
The idea for a mid-engine Corvette goes all the way back to the '60s, but we got awful close to seeing it happen in the early '90s.
By Brett Foote
The idea for a mid-engine Corvette goes all the way back to the '60s, but we got awful close to seeing it happen in the early '90s.
Drifting
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,550
Likes: 324
From: Mid Ohio
I was paying attention back then. Didn't like it much at that timing.. and still don't. I know mid engine is superior for performance but it just doesn't stir my soul. The traditional front engine BIG V8 and rear wheel drive is what I long for.
Last edited by wydopnthrtl; Sep 19, 2019 at 02:36 PM.
Thread Starter
CorvetteForum Editor
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 1,693
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That pricing tier would have been insane back then also.
1st Gear
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 1
Likes: 1
Car handler
From 1991 to 2008 I was the person responsible for handling this car. I know it inside and out. And I always said that it was a female car because no man would do what that car did to me when I would work on it!!!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 1,023
Likes: 776
From: Göteborg, Sweden, Europe
2025 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2020 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I wish I could fine this wheels for my C5.
i kinda like the exterior lines...a tad too long in the rear but otherwise nice concept.
TCFS
i kinda like the exterior lines...a tad too long in the rear but otherwise nice concept.
TCFS
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,473
Likes: 691
From: West Virginia
I think Mosler did a better job at producing a "Corvette style" rear engined car than the CERV III. It has the same tapered canopy as the C5/C6, and uses round Corvette tail lights - four of them of course, and an LS motor. Google has a ton of images.
As to CERV III, the tail is just way too long, making it look like a very stretched 1st gen NSX. Jaguar put a similarly long tail on the 220 - then drastically shortened it for the XJR15 series. There is really no aerodynamic (or packaging) need for an extended tail behind the rear wheel openings.
As to CERV III, the tail is just way too long, making it look like a very stretched 1st gen NSX. Jaguar put a similarly long tail on the 220 - then drastically shortened it for the XJR15 series. There is really no aerodynamic (or packaging) need for an extended tail behind the rear wheel openings.
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Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 24
Likes: 12
The Corvette prototypes are probably my most favorite Corvette models- I could spend days looking at them. Every generation basically had a unique mid-engine prototype and the CERV III is my number 2 favorite- reminds me of an NSX/Jaguar XJ220 hybrid. If someone, like factory five or superformance, offered a CERV III kit car that used C5 parts I'd be all over it. A mid-engine C5 Corvette build on its own would be amazing and I think it could be pulled off without mucking around with the late 90's early 2000's design language; I believe someone on this forum already found a mid-engine C5 chassis which they used on a LOLA recreation: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...5-chassis.html - A great use for the nearly endless supply of C5 vettes (that and turning them into Vette-karts).
#1 favorite is the 4-rotor corvette prototype from the 70's (XP-882 and 895). Part of me wishes the 4-rotor vette became reality. A 390 cubic inch 420 hp 4-rotor engine must have been amazing and sounded like a complete monster.... If only someone made a C5 T56 bellhousing to Mazda 13B/20B/26B.
#1 favorite is the 4-rotor corvette prototype from the 70's (XP-882 and 895). Part of me wishes the 4-rotor vette became reality. A 390 cubic inch 420 hp 4-rotor engine must have been amazing and sounded like a complete monster.... If only someone made a C5 T56 bellhousing to Mazda 13B/20B/26B.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 15,049
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From: Holly Springs NC
St. Jude Donor '16-'17,'22,'24
No offense intended, but as a former C5 owner, I'm glad that show car never made it to the production floor. Absolutely not something I'd buy.
BTW, I guess everyone here knows that the initial design of the C7, initiated in 2006, was a mid-engine car. The bankruptcy resulted in suspension of C7 development. When the consultants ordered resumption of Corvette development (because Corvette was profitable) there was not enough time to develop a mid-engine car, so the FE with a transmission in the rear was continued one more model. That's why some of the lines of the C7 look like the C8, cause the C8 actually started development first.
BTW, I guess everyone here knows that the initial design of the C7, initiated in 2006, was a mid-engine car. The bankruptcy resulted in suspension of C7 development. When the consultants ordered resumption of Corvette development (because Corvette was profitable) there was not enough time to develop a mid-engine car, so the FE with a transmission in the rear was continued one more model. That's why some of the lines of the C7 look like the C8, cause the C8 actually started development first.
