The reason Ferrari has gone front engine for the big coupes is that you can have the front-mid engine AND luggage space AND interior room.
The exotic mid engine cars are cramped by comparison and none will carry 2 golf bags worth of luggage. One cardinal rule for the Corvette is that 2 people and their luggage can comfortably travel a good distance in some comfort, while still remaining a competative performer. All this and half to a third of the price of the foreign exotics.
GM

 

Thing is, a Corvette has always been and always should be a front engined RWD big pushrod V8 vehicle... it's simply part of the inherent character that DEFINES the "Corvette" name. It is a sports car, but ALSO a musclecar... with strong American styling.

If you radically change the configuration of the car, it will no longer be a Corvette. It might be great, it might be a lot of things, but it will not be a Corvette.

Do you think Harley Davidson will ever start dropping high revving inline 4s into their cruisers?

I suppose that the Corvette may ultimately be "limited" by its inherent signature configuration. GM may eventually struggle to get a front engined huge V8 RWD vehicle to beat the pants off of other cars with more exotic configurations. But damn, they've sure done an excellent job so far!

That's why I have so much respect for the C6 design team and for the C6 itself. It's STILL a "classic" Corvette in every way, and it is still one of the best sports cars / hotrods on the planet. They made the classic configuration WORK! Hats off! That's why I just had to buy one.

If GM comes up with a super duper race car that has a configuration that is different than what a Corvette should have, I just hope they give it a new unique name, and KEEP the "Corvette" as is.

In the end, my personal vote: I love the C6... as is. If the next generation of Vettes become less classic musclecar and more "exotic" in design and appearance, I would never buy one. Not for me. I would then move over to a Camaro as long as it's still a front engined, RWD big V8 vehicle.

It is interesting how the Corvette is indeed just as much a musclecar as it is a sports car... and appeals to BOTH sports car fans as well as musclecar fans. A Corvette is quite unique in that way.

I just wonder what percentage of the Corvette buying public are "sports car / exotic" fans (type of people who would buy an "exotic" in a heartbeat if they could not have a Vette), and what percentage are American musclecar fans like me who MUST have a huge rumbling pushrod V8, RWD, classic American styling, etc?

Maybe one of you guys can post a poll:

Choice A: Corvette should retain its classic American musclecar configuration and heritage (I hope it always reminds me of a C2/C3 Corvette)

Choice B: Corvette should be all it can be even if it means transforming into a more "exotic" form (I hope it eventually turns into something that might be readily mistaken for a Ferrari)

I'd be curious to see the results of such a poll... such may give us a rough indication of what to expect for the future of the Corvette.

 

Precisely my thinking. Except for the mystique of mid engine what would the reality be in terms of comfort and room? What percent of present vette buyers would care if the car was mid engined? And what percent would be willing to be cramped. This is to say nothing of potentially higher production costs.

Besides, so many people expect the next generation of vette to be an improvement over the C6. Hey, that's not necessarily what is going to happen. Looking at emission controls, gas prices, competition, and global warming groupies chanting 'no CO2' the most powerful vettes ever produced might be coming off the production line NOW.

I mean, think about it, every regular 08 C6 that comes off the line is more powerful and much faster, not to mention more comfortable than a '67 427 435hp - a car that was/is barely streetable while it drinks aviation gas.

the C7 might look more like a Miata on steroids than a buffed up C6. It could be a step backwards. I am NOT trying to be pessimistic but having lived through the first castration of american muscle cars it's tough to not consider it.

 

The first Corvette's were 6 cylinders.

 

Well said. Without a doubt--Choice A

 

So was every '05 to '07.

 

I'm betting against it. Why? Very simple - GM is still not in good financial shape. I don't even remotely see GM giving "Team Corvette" the dollars it would take to develop it. The C5/C6 structure (which are nearly identical) is a top notch chassis. It's very strong and light, and ......drum roll please.....it's basically paid for after 10 years in production. And don't forget, for this to be coming out in two years, they would have to be well along in the development of the car. And let's not forget that the C6 is selling in record numbers - it is likely a pretty profitable car for GM (and I'm not even counting the volume the Cadillac XLR brings to the party).

Sure, I don't claim to know the real answer any more than anyone else, but I'm pretty good when it comes to common sense issues. Feel free to cut and past this thread to a word document and save it. Bring it up in two years and lets settle - lunch at hOOters.

 

sure was but remember GM was going to drop Corvette becuase it didnt sell and Fords Thunderbird was outselling it by a LONG SHOT, some Russian guy kinda put a V8 in one and Ford put a backseat in a Thunderbird and well lets say the rest is history.

 

"has gone"? You might want to do a little homework. Ferraris history is built around front engine cars. Mid engine is fairly recent for Ferrari. I don't go back to the 50's, but I damn sure remember the 275 & 330 GTC's of the 60s, and the incredible 365 Daytona of the early '70s.

 

 

My response was to the original posters assertion that Corvettes had ALWAYS been V8's, but thanks ever so much for the history lesson.

 

So how exactly would the mid engine work on a vette? Where would it be in relationship to the driver? Would you access the engine from the rear of the car? How do you keep this beast cool?

 

Right, which is why financially strapped GM is not gonna do this anytime soon - at least they are not gonna do it correctly.

 

 

Has anyone considered the engineering challenge of making a mid-engine Corvette crashworthy? I for one would be very leery of the prospect of an LS3 and its transaxle using me and my passenger as a "crush zone".

 

There is a prototype somewhere in BG, well hidden I'm sure, but I'm told it will hit the show circuit late in 08.

 

I'll believe it when I see it. I'd expect the C7 to debut in 2010 as a 2011 model, which means the C6 will still have fewer years of production than any Corvette generation except the midyears. Maybe GM will show a mid-engine concept at some time over the next few years, but like the Cadillac Sixteen, I don't think it will see production.

 

A number change on the same motor and a "deluxe' interior? I'm dumping mine for sure.

 

Perhaps gmoller should have said "has gone back," but he's right. For a generation, Ferrari's reputation was built on cars like the mid-engined BBs and TRs. Then they came to their senses and introduced front-engined GTs like the 550 and sublime 599 (I know which I'd rather drive).