How many members here know of this???


http://autos.yahoo.com/news/11-conce...e-made-it.html

 

Anyone who has been to the NCM, or read a book on Corvettes. This was a favorite car of a previous Chief Engineer (Corvette from the Inside). Bad aero but good looks. The tail would have generated a lot of lift. It would have needed a major spoiler or wing. Still I would like to have seen it make it into production without the rotary engine. At one time there was a rumor that Jim Hall was going to mfg a street car. I always wondered if it would have been based on this design.

 

I prefer the earlier XP-880 Astro II myself. Visually, anyway. The later mid-engined Vettes appeal to my inner early-80s child but otherwise look too DMC -- can't imagine why.

 

Got about 6 different scale replicas of that. You would have thought that Pontiac or Buick could have stuck their badge on a true marvel like this back in the day. I can see why Vette never took that turn, seeing how it was always pushed in a more raw sports oriented form. But, yeah, what ever happened to a "futuristic" looking fast car? (not knuclehead Lambo's and stuff like that... )

 

CERV III has always been my favorite.

 

You mean the vintage John Delorean reference... who was running Pontiac once upon a time?

That was how Pontiac was tossed a dust-covered bone from the shelves of the Corvette design team.

The Pontiac Fiero.

 

Honestly, I'd probably buy any car that looked like that, even if it ran an 18.5 quarter mile. The look of that car is slightly dated, but would still make a HUGE statement if produced today. It just looks 1 of a kind. I see bits of it on the Corvette Daytona car now that I look at it

And lets not mention the Fiero. I wanna turn one into a twisty road un-holy terror so bad...

 

Start by finding an '88 Formula

It was the best of the breed, IMHO. The car was becoming awesome by then, still needing development, but a great car. Sadly, the car just never could get away from the bad rep caused by the fires in the early models. I think the die was cast by '86.

I always wondered what it could have become had it been accepted.

 

If anyone should get the chance, I'd highly recommend taking a Boxster Spyder for a test drive. It only has 320 HP but I believe the curb weight is unde 3K lbs, so its acceleration is decent. The handling however is out of this world. Unfortunately Porsche didn't export many to the US, so you may have to do a little search before you find one.

 

That car was parked in the GM Design Center lobby for quite some time. I've seen it in person, and it looked better in person than even the pictures.

Unfortunately, it had the Wankel in it, and when the Wankel was canned by GM, the car went with it. Instead, we ended up with umpteen years of the C3.

Michael

 

After GM canned the Wankel they removed the rotary engine from the Four Rotor and replaced it with a 400 inch smallblock. They changed the name from "Four Rotor" to "Aerovette" at that time. GM still owns it and they display it from time to time.

It started life with a different body in 1969 as the XP-882, a mid-engined V8 concept Corvette. In 1973 it was rebodied as the XP-895 Four Rotor, powered by two 2-rotor Wankels combined. After the Wankel program was cancelled the Four Rotor was converted back to V8 power in 1976.

In the 1960's and 70's GM Design Chief Bill Mitchell liked to attend the major races at Road America. He'd send a transporter with 4 or 5 favorite concept cars to display and to drive around when he wanted to. Usually a few of the concept Corvettes, a concept Camaro, and one of the chop-top Riviera Silver Arrows. GM Design's guy in charge of the concept cars was Dick Henderson, who I'd gotten to know pretty well. Once in 1974 after he unloaded the Four Rotor in the field behind the Corvette Corral he let me drive it up to the Corral display area. Didn't get over 5 or 10 mph unfortunately. I clearly remember two things about it: 1) the double jointed gullwing doors fit and worked beautifully and seemed so advanced compared to common one-piece gullwings, and 2) 10 seconds after shutting off the car there was a huge backfire out the exhaust pipes as unburned fuel in the exhaust ignited. It did this every time the car was moved, scaring the crap out of everybody around



.

 

That's sounds cool as mess.

Too bad you could not go over 10mph.I wish the C7 could have good gullwing door's, but the odds are not with my wish.