The future of America's sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette has always been shrouded in speculation. In the 1970s, many thought the C4 Corvette of the 1980s would roll onto dealer lots with a mid-engine chassis. It never did. Recently those same rumors surrounded the next C7 Corvette, due in 2013, though they were later debunked. So what does the future hold for the next generation Vette? Some hints might lie in GM's recent Corvette Stingray concept.
The Corvette Stingray concept, which debuted at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show and had a starring role in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, on the surface looks as though it could provide some design and powertrain influence for the next C7 Corvette. However Tom Peters, designer of both the Stingray concept as well as the new Chevy Camaro, told Jalopnik's Ray Wert "It's not the C7, but that's not to say there aren't elements here that could translate into what the C7's about." Peters took the methodology used designing the Stingray concept and applied it to both the C6 Corvette as well as the new Chevy Camaro. That's why you'll see design elements from the Stingray concept in both the C6 Corvette (like the raking in the side coveys) and the Camaro.
Taking cues from art and the exterior, GM interior designer Micah Jones built a dual-cockpit design. On the steering wheel are two spherical balls. Right side controls shared functions like entertainment, climate control and navigation. The center console screen is a dramatic and expansive display with five settings controlled by a haptic touch screen—the same five you find on the wheel—Entertainment, Air, Home (laptop mode), Nav and Race modes.
But it's what resides under the hood of this concept (in theory at least) that is most compelling—a radical conceptual hybrid powertrain mates hybrid technology to a high performance V8 engine with cylinder deactivation. The theoretical concept includes the ability to switch from pure electric mode for city driving to full use of the big LS-series V8 engine with five different settings controlling the feel and sharpness of the shifts, and the intensity and sensitivity of regenerative brakes. GM claims that if this system were functional, you could control the electrical output ranging from a more eco-friendly mode or crank it up to ultimate power. This is a Corvette after all.
Despite the lettering "Hybrid Stingray" emblazoned on the packaging, the concept merely represents a futuristic vision from the design studio, not a powertrain exercise. So don't expect a hybrid C7 Corvette. To get a taste of what its like behind the wheel of this radical Corvette Concept, Jalopnik editor (and sometimes PM contributor) Ray Wert drove the car yesterday at GM's Warren Tech Center. Check out all the details on this amazing concept here.
