Asleep@thewheel

You guys/gals know WAY MORE than I do, and will most likely point out the error of my ways, but has GM (or any other manufacturer) ever made two cars as different as a ME and a FE C8 and named them the same...as in "Corvette"?

OnPoint

Well, Caddy made a CTS wagon and a CTS coupe.

While not a engine placement difference, they are vastly different cars to drive.

Given the history of some of the top Corvette engineers striving for a long time to bring us one, I honestly don't understand the angst with Corvette having an ME in its line-up. If that history wasn't there, I might feel differently, but with it . . . hell we've waiting for this for a long time. I hope both are called Corvette, and the ME designated Corvette Zora.

Tom73

senah

this report from gmauthority last year says a lot:


After four long years of legal battles, General Motors has been awarded the right to use the iconic Chevrolet Corvette badge in Australia, according to a new report from Wheels.

IP Australia, the government agency that oversees trademarks in the country, has finally given the U.S. automaker the OK to use the Corvette logo—two flags with a checkered pattern on one and a stylized Chevrolet bowtie on the other—for reasons not yet disclosed at this time. All we know is GM really wanted to make sure it was allowed to use the emblem down under.

GM’s application to use the Corvette badge was rejected outright after IP Australia claimed the emblem infringed on the Red Cross. The misuse of the Red Cross is protected under the Geneva Conventions Act of 1957, which states the emblem may only be used during times of war or conflict as a “do not fire upon” marking. Traditionally, the badge has been used by hospitals, doctors, ambulances and other medical personnel.

Despite the win for GM, there’s a catch. “It is a condition of registration that, in use, the cross device contained within the trademark will be rendered in colors other than red on a white or silver background, or white or silver on a red background,” IP Australia said.

This means the Corvette badge will need to be tweaked ever so slightly if and when the car makes its way to Australia. However, it’s all but certain the C8 Corvette will be offered in Australia. GM has also moved to trademark the “Zora” name in Australia—a nod to Zora Arkus-Duntov, the patriarch of the Corvette.



Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2017/08/...#ixzz5LOGZZkdP

and they already trademarked "Stingray" in 2010, so Tom73, i believe you have it.

LawrenceFromTorrance

Don't you have something better to do

Mike Mercury

quite possible. The Stingray would be a C8... the Zora would be the Z1.

I hope to see a true ME Corvette; and hope that GM continues to sell FE C8's at the same time (that I can afford)

Jeff V.

Corvette Zora
Corvette GT
Corvette MR

They can do lots of things with the name.

rcooper

Ferrari comes to mind

dreamr616

Sure ... Ferrari 488 (ME) and Ferrari 812 Superfast (FE)

Two vastly different cars and models but still the same "brand". I think you have to look at Corvette not as a model but as a Chevrolet brand. Corvette "models" would be Stingray, Grand Sport, Z06, and ZR1 for FE and the new "????" for the ME.

Asleep@thewheel

My communication skills have failed me yet again...my fault.

My question is NOT: "What might GM do in the future with Corvette's name?"

My question is; In the historically past, has GM ever made two vastly different cars (for example, a ME car and a FE car) and put the same name (Corvette?) on both of them?

I have bought GM cars for 50+ years and remember the Camero RS, Camero SS, Camero Z/28 as examples of basically the same car, but with huge differences in HP and trim. Same with Vettes...Z06, Stingray, ZR1, etc. But, they were all basically the same frame/body.

Ferrari makes many different cars, but every car as different as a ME car and a FE car has different names/numbers. Ferrari isn't a brand...it's a manufacturer.

I'll go out on a limb and state: If GM makes a ME C8 (and I'll happily buy one if they do) and simultaneously makes a FE C8, they will NOT both be called "Corvettes".

lt4obsesses

I would venture to say that if they roll out the mid engine car next year and market it as the Eighth Generation Corvette, there will be no front engine offering. If they plan on offering a FE later, then it will be the eighth generation Corvette, and the mid engine may still be a Corvette with a model designation as you mention. The mid engine car may live on it's own generational timeline. But at this point no one knows, maybe not even GM, yet.

evolmotorsprt

I've had a couple of drinks so I'll go down the rabbit hole...

I can see GM (Chevrolet) following Ford and getting rid of their cars. Chevy is now Trucks, SUVs and Crossovers. So let's imagine there's no longer a Camaro. Keep the FE corvette at the current entry price point and make it an even better value proposition by adding more features, and giving it a facelift, but capping it so there are no longer high level performance models. Mabey make it a 2+2. So GS performance is about the top. Now take the ME and make the base price $10k more, give it all the wiz bang stuff, and make the performance level much higher. Develop new performance models and tier the new platform like we currently have.

Is it possible? Maybe. Probable? No. I do like the idea of Corvette as a performance brand. I think a sedan that competes with the Panamera would be awesome. I don't want a Cadillac, give me a Corvette super sedan. Haha. Who knows. Maybe you enjoyed reading this...

Tom73

Tom73

JoesC5

Ford is not throwing the Mustang in the trash bin. Also, Ford sedans represents a very small fraction of the sedans sold worldwide, or even in the US. Just because Ford is dropping it's sedans(with the exception of the Mustang) doesn't mean everyone else will follow suit. After ford drops it's sedans, there will still be a huge selection of sedans to choose from if that is the type of vehicle you want. Sales of sedans from other manufacturers will most likely increase with Ford getting out of that market.

ColoradoGS

Anyone who knows what GM is going to do isn't going to say here but there are examples of other manufacturers making similar decisions to what is suggested above.

It use to be "Dodge Ram" pickup trucks with Dodge as the make and Ram as the model. With the latest version a Ram pickup has no link back to Dodge at all. Ram has essentially become a new make--you see references to Chrysler/Dodge/Ram/Jeep as a group. It would definitely be possible for Corvette to follow the same pattern where there's a Corvette Stingray and a Corvette Zora (or however they would be named).

KnightDriveTV

I think your use of the term "vastly" is a starting point. It could be debated that an AWD and RWD/FWD car, of the same model are also, in many ways "vastly" different. Let's take for example, a mid 2000's BMW 3 series coupe and show the BMW 3 series AWD wagon. They too appear vastly different, but are the very same platform, under the very same name. The modular nature of currently assembly practices say these cars won't be vastly different, just maybe fundamentally different from an engine placement/weight distribution perspective, but maybe "vastly" similar in all other respects.

The name is simply a marketing decision, nothing more. I feel you'd want to use the ME as the top of the Corvette "brand"...almost applying a HALO effect without limiting production. Pull them in with an ME, sell them a well equipped Stingray, etc.

I believe the use of a suffix would apply here such as Porsche 911 Carrera vs Porsche 911 GT3RS...one can say that those cars also are "vastly" different, but I'd counter they are vastly similar also.

The HACK

Hyundai Genesis Sedans and Coupes were vastly different, only similarity was they were both front engine, rear drive cars. Some suspension parts are shared, but the entire platform underpinning, every single body panel, interior, all different. So there IS precedence for an auto manufacturer to take one of their more popular brands and splitting it out to a "brand" by itself (current Genesis cars come in a variety of flavors, badged as "Genesis" instead of Hyundai, and sold at Hyundai stores).

The Cadillac CTS comes in Coupe, Sedan, and Wagon format. While some of the underpinnings are the same, the body panels are vastly different, although some interior elements are the same. The ME and FE Corvette can still share the same drive-train due to the transaxle design (i.e. you'd lose the torque tube). Suspension can still be same design, although you'd lose some the benefit of the ME platform but gain a much larger "frunk" than typical ME design.

But the fact that we've not seen ANY FE mules being tested would indicate that there's NO FE C8 coming. To go from mule to production is a long and arduous testing process. IF there's an FE C8 on the way, we'd seen some test mules by now.

JustinStrife

Nissan Skylines had a RWD version, and an AWD GT-R version.

Tom73