Just out of curiosity, where is the Corvette design team located? Are they in the offices at the assembly plant in Bowling Green, KY? Where do they build the clay models? Where are the prototypes built??

 

The best part is - right here in the USA!

 

In the book, ALL CORVETTES ARE RED, the C5 was designed in Detroit and then built in BG.

 

I believe the first few mules are built in michigan to test assembly issues.

 

Initial design studies for C7 have been carried out around the world. GM has design studios in the U.S. (Detroit & California), Europe (Germany), and Asia (India & China); there may be a few other locations that have slipped my mind. Depending on how long the design process is budgeted/scheduled for, small 1/5 scale clay studies will also be carried out in these different studios.

Typically, 1:1 clay models will be sculpted in whichever studio is awarded the job of working on the car being redesigned, however I am not sure this will hold true with C7. Historically speaking, the Corvette has always been designed in the U.S. (in the Detroit studios), although I believe the initial design direction (Stingray III) for the C5 came from GM's California studio. For C7 GM wants the car to appeal to a younger market, and to the European market as well, so they went overseas to their studios abroad to see what the designers could come up with. Regardless of which design is chosen (and from where it came), I would not be surprised if the final clay models were sculpted in Detroit.

All prototype cars, however, are built in Detroit. Testing, on the other hand, tends to take place all over the world. Initially, the Milford proving grounds (which is right across the street from the GM Tech Center) will be used for basic high-speed and on-road testing (there are 'simulated' back-roads on the proving grounds, along with a high-speed test track). But places like Arizona will be used for extreme temperature testing and northern Ontario will be used for cold weather testing. While this is going on, engineers within the GM Tech Center use a flexible assembly area which can be easily rearranged/modified to assemble early prototypes. This is done not only to refine the design from a standpoint of manufacturability, but to also help define the entire assembly process so the assembly line in Bowling Green can be planned-out prior to the car going into full-scale production.

Once the assembly process and the plant layout is complete, the assembly line in Bowling Green is dismantled (as the last car of the out-going model is rolling off the line) and retooled for the new car. Once that's done, a small fleet of beta cars is built to train the assembly workers who work at the factory; the cars are scrutinized at the factory and on the road for overall quality.

Ultimately, the good folks at Bowling Green will not get involved with the C7 until it is very close to the final product. In fact, by the time the factory gets involved, the concept designers and studio engineers at GM will either be working on updates to the C7 (like specials such as a Z06 or a ZR1 version, etc...) or on C8.

 

I love all corvette.

 

TheCorvetteKid - Thanks for posting that awesome info!!

 

Nice to know where it all starts, I've always wondered this myself, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in that room during the design discussion.

 

 

[QUOTE=TheCorvetteKid;1576589483]All prototype cars, however, are built in Detroit. Testing, on the other hand, tends to take place all over the world. Initially, the Milford proving grounds (which is right across the street from the GM Tech Center) will be used for basic high-speed and on-road testing (there are 'simulated' back-roads on the proving grounds, along with a high-speed test track). [QUOTE]

Good post and very detailed. Some slight correction. The GM Tech Center is in Warren, Michigan, just north of Detroit. Milford is about 40 miles from Warren. The Tech Center does most of the engineering for the Corvette and also has a design studio that would do the final version. Milford does have some engineering buildings, but is not the Tech Center.

 

Thank you for the correction.

If I'm not mistaken, there is a test track (or a test facility) across the street (Mound Road?) from the Tech Center, right? I thought this was the Milford Proving Grounds. I stand corrected.

In my defense, geography has never been my strong suite.