KnightDriveTV

I feel there seems to be a lot of assumptions being made as to what role this car will play. For that reason, I think we need to have a poll.

Facts we know:

-Bowling Green has undergone extreme expansion
-C7 sales have been consistently very good since 2014, inspiring further investment
-Weathertech and WEC favoring mid-engine cars and Porsche RSR went mid-engine within the rulebook
-C6ZR1 seemed to indicate Americans will only pay so much for a FR Corvette
-Mid-Engine 175k+ market is alive and well with NSX, Mclaren 570S, Huracan, R8 and is prime for that GM recipe of affordable, reliable killer
-Mid-Engine Cadillac DPi with the 6.2 is dominating with it's reliability and consistency creating a strong American following for a mid-engine V8 sports car.
-Porsche is a benchmark of making a wide bandwidth lineup of variations using the core platform of the 911.


So, vote now, let's see what the forum really thinks.

l2vette

Mid engine only, the only way to compete in the GTLM class in the very near future.

sunsalem

The GTLM series cannot and will not factor in to the decision to stop building FE Vette streetcars.
For some reason, very few Corvette buyers really care about the C7.R.

GM should slowly phase in the ME and wait to see how it is accepted by Corvette Nation before cutting the cord.

KrisColoradoLV

I don't care to guess what they will do. I just know what I would do.


There are drastically different tastes even just among people that like Corvettes. I would have at least a couple completely different body styles of each the mid-engine and front-engine. A sleek and classy version, and a wild futuristic version. Have a race version, or muscle car version also. Four to six different models. Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini can all do it, so can Corvette.


But we'll know if they want it to succeed or not by the way it looks and it's priced.


If it's done right, people will see that the mid-engine layout is just way better. The front-engine model could fade away, unless it's drastically improved. Which is why I'm skeptical as to whether some people would want the mid-engine to succeed. I say make both models good enough to succeed.


-CrudeColorado

OnPoint

It'll be an additional model to the line-up.

fyreline

The people who know don't talk.

The people who talk don't know.

ddlanes

If the ME debuts in 2019 it will be a Cadillac. Too much invested in the C7 for such a short production run. The ME price point will be to high for the average Corvette owner.

sunsalem

The costs would be considerably more than what they are now.

KrisColoradoLV

Just different body panels and a few other changes. The overall Corvette market will be bigger to make up for it. And we will get to see more of a variety of Corvettes out there.

vetteb_96C

According to my source it will be along side the front engine car and be expensive. $130-$180K. It's a Ford GT fighter at less than half the cost.

vetteb_96C

Nope.

Bill Dearborn

They indicated several years ago the two would be produced side by side for at least two years.

Bill

Steve Garrett

The mid-engine will NOT replace ANYTHING.

sunsalem

Hopefully, yeah.
But we don't know for certain if the market for Sportscars will grow.
If the economy tanks....
I can't see how the Vette ME would be competition to the GT.
IIRC, the Ford is a limited production run of 1,000 spread over 4 years.
GM has a MUCH longer run with MUCH more production numbers in mind for their ME.
It would be aimed more for streetability than as a street legal racecar (like the GT).
I remember reading that as well.

WesC7

Replacing the front engine Corvette for an ME, would cause the demise of the "affordable" Corvette and eventually the end of the Corvette brand, as we know it.

TulsaVette

My first Corvette in 2000 was $41K with options that I picked, there were no forced packages then. My second was $58K, my third was $92K and my current Z06 was $100K. I am at the top of my comfort level for price and if Chevy goes to $120-180K, I am out as a Corvette customer. I know there are many that can afford that, but there are more that can't or won't, and I too believe it would ultimately be the end of the Corvette brand.

ANTIVNOM

I'm fine with a mid engine Corvette...some of the concepts are quite nice (others not so much, but potential is certainly there).

The part I cannot reconcile is that if Chevy goes to just a mid-engine car, how they keep from pricing themselves out of the market. I can't see them being able to produce the car at the current price point, which will knock a lot of buyers out.

Steve Garrett

^^^ They're not-the mid-engine will live with the current front engine Corvette.

smitty1966

I think we will see the FE continue on as the Stingray model with base, Z51, Z06 and ZR1 levels; the ME will be another model under the Corvette banner, maybe Zora, at a higher price bracket.

Quinten33

Exactly. Perhaps the FE will live on as the C8 and the ME (Zora) will join in as the Z1.