(Editor’s note: Before I get started, I want to point out that I personally have NO inside information or connections. What follows is educated speculation on my part.)
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We invite you to leave your thoughts and opinionson this latest iteration at the bottom of this post.
The April 2011 issue of Car and Driver magazine arrived in my mailbox yesterday and my immediate response was “WOW!” The cover story is, “25 Cars Worth Waiting For!” and splashed in the front of the grouping of three red hot cars is, what is most likely a computer generated images of the 2013 Corvette. Just behind the Corvette image is the 2012 ZL1 Camaro with a tiny image of a 2012 911 Porsche. It’s a good-looking cover, with the Corvette in the lead. Continue reading “Car and Driver’s C7 Corvette Update…”→
Master Corvette Artist, Dana Forrester, Dishes Up Another Corvette Art Beauty!
Over the last few months there’s been a real absence of official news from GM about the next generation C7 Corvette. While GM’s fortunes have turned around recently with their successful IPO stock offering and very good sales of the core line cars, Corvette sales continue to slip. It’s not for a lack of selection, as the ‘11 Corvette line offers buyers a true Corvette boutique of choices. Could it be that buyers are content with their existing Corvettes and are simply waiting for the C7? Or, is it just “the economy, stupid”?
Of course it’s anyone’s guess, but it provides excellent fodder for endless speculation. Back in November 2011 I posted a collection of C7 Corvette concept renderings that clearly shows that a lot of talented designers are putting pen to paper and working their computer graphics magic. With so many interesting designs out in cyberspace, it’s worth remembering that the Transformers / Centennial Corvette concept show car is the ONLY official visual from GM. And lately, they’ve been VERY quiet.
Tell us Which Version You Like at the End of This Post!
Ever since the Transformers movie car arrived, C7 speculation has been the hottest topic in the Corvette community. And as if speculation over the C7 wasn’t enough, there’s also speculation about the C8 Corvette! Of course, all of this may well be happy talk because if the C6 doesn’t pull out of its nose dive, we may be looking at those familiar lines for a LONG time. I also want to point out that while anything can be improved, the C6 didn’t suddenly become an outdated, stogy, slug. There’s SO MUCH red meat built into the car. Look at the Lingenfelter ZR1 with some minor intake and slight gearing changes that ran 9.8-seconds in the quarter-mile in December ‘09!!!
My C7 Wish-List
As far as hardware is concerned, it’s all speculation at this point. The Corvette designers are 100% mum about ANY details. About styling, for me, the basic shape of the Transformers / Centennial MINUS the cartoonish front and rear gills, works. I’ve been following Corvettes since the mid-’60s and every time there’s a new design, it takes about a year to get used to the new shape. But in retrospect, I can NOT look back at any new generation Corvette and say, “bad job.” I’m very confident that the designers and stylists that are now working on the C7 will get it right and successfully capture the eseance of that which is “Corvette”. Continue reading “C7 Corvette Daydreaming-Concepts for the Next Generation”→
So, what do you think? Would this work for you as the C7 Corvette Roadster?
One of the cool things about running a blog such as CorvetteReport.com is that you can track topics – what’s hot – what’s not. Speculation over the pending C7 Corvette is smokin hot! Perhaps it’s just the ho-hum economy and Corvette fans are looking for something to look forward to. After all, is the C6 Corvette deficient? We won’t get into the interior issue, suffice to say that there still might be time for a C6 interior upgrade, just to quiet the nit-pickers.
I have some other thoughts on C7 speculation that I’ll save for the next post, but for now, let’s take a gander at the latest variation on the Transformers/Centennial concept Corvette – the Roadster version, as well as an interesting application of the concept car’s styling queues to a C6 coupe. Continue reading “C7 Transformers-Centennial Corvette Roadster: Hot? Cool? Not?”→
Will a Split-Window Coupe Sting Ray Be the Next Generation C7 Corvette?
by Illustrated Corvette Series Vette Magazine Columnist and Book of Same Name Author, K. Scott Teeters
A few months ago on this blog, I published a post titled, “Today’s C7 Corvette Concept Cars – Revving You Up, or Stalling You Out?”. Between the big shakeup at GM and numerous magazine speculation stories about the next generation Corvette, I decided to weigh in on two of the concept Vettes that had been getting a lot of ink. It was a challenging post because, honestly, the Transformers/Centennial car had left me lukewarm. But to be fair in my analysis, I looked very carefully at both cars with the questions, “What do I like? What don’t I like?” Once I looked beyond the cartoonish front and rear Cadillac-like gills, I was surprised to see a lot that I did like. And the more I looked at the Transformers/Centennial car, the more I wanted to uncap my pens and fix it! Continue reading “C7 Split-Window Coupe Corvette Concept by K. Scott Teeters’”→
Are These C7 Corvette Styling Concepts Making You Warm?
We want your opinion, and here is mine.
This is the Centennial/Transformers Movie/C7/Concept Corvette
(Editor’s Note: One of the cool things about running a blog, such as this one, is that we can track the popularity of the topics we post. So far, this post has garnered the most number of hits, telling us that there’s LOTS of interest in what’s in store for the C7 Corvette. After writing this post I was inspired to create a set of drawings that reflect my critique of the Transformers/Centennial concept car shown in this post. The illustrations appeared in my VETTE Magazine column in the October 2010 issue as a 2-page center spread. After the publication of the illustrations, I posted the article titled, “K. Scott Teeters’ C7 Split-Window Coupe Concept Corvette.” So, after reading this post, we invite you to check out the illustrations that reflect the comments below. I included photos of the real concept car and scans of the art so that you can clearly see how I came to my design. So, enjoy the post below, or CLICK HERE to jump ahead to the post with the illustrations. KST)
I want to address the issue as a Corvette enthusiast and an artist with a car designer’s heart, of some of the C7 Corvette concept cars we’ve seen so far. I’m going to give my critique of just the shapes. I’ll tell you what I like and why, what I don’t like, and why. I think the recent magazine articles for these cars are just a lot of PR speculation – some red meat for the fans. But I’m most interested in what YOU think of the styling of these cars. So let’s read what I think and then you send me your opinion at the end in the comments section, Okay?
When I told my wife what the sub-title of this article would be, she said, “Oh, don’t use that sexual expression.” I explained that sports cars are about sex. Driving them is a sensual experience – you don’t just “ride” in a sports car, you “DRIVE” the sports car. The hottest sports cars will always catch your breath. Even the old classics. That’s one of the cool things about owning a Corvette. Even people that don’t know what it is, (other than, just a “car”) will say, “WOW! What kind of car is that?” Continue reading “Today’s C7 Corvette Concept Cars – Revving You Up, or Stalling You Out?”→
Design by Committee GM Cars Do Not Work! A Global Corvette? PLEASE!
Subtitle: Is the next Corvette headed for Hall of Design Shame? A Look at Corvette History for American Design Inspiration.
By K. Scott Teeters
2010 Grand Sport Corvette
Is There Something WRONG With This 2010 Corvette???
You can tell the the Corvette rumor mill has been starved for a scrap of red meat. On March 8, 2010, AutoWeek served up a short, hot little article that made the Corvette blogosphere explode. Here’s a link to the AutoWeek article…
Holden’s new Commodore HSV W427? – Bing! Zoom! To the MOON! Get it Outta Here!
Talk about an act of desperation!
GM’s tired old car guy, Bob Lutz has spoken! But I can’t believe what I’m reading. Lutz says that a Holden-based four-door Corvette is a possibility. They’re getting all warm over the Corvette-powered Holden Commodore HSV W427. Obviously, with a Z06’s 427 LS7 engine the car will be bloody fast. Continue reading “A Four-Door Holden Corvette? Get Me a Barf Bag, NOW!!!”→
What will inspire and influence the new Chevrolet Corvette C7?
Corvette Lovers Dream On….
The blogosphere and webosphere have been blah blahhing quite a bit in the last few months as to just what changes inside and out may occur with the upcoming and greatly anticipated C7 Corvette. If you read the other post here on Corvette Report on the Corvette in Peril, you know the economy will most likely slow down the production of this next generation. That aside, Corvette lovers dream on. Here are a few links to get the conversation going and a few well thought out responses to how things may shake out/ shape up. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
It’s interesting to see how the blogosphere has stoked the C7 conversation. Last week GM got some positive press with the announcement of the EPA mileage estimates for the new Chevy Volt – upwards of 230 mpg! That’s interesting, but as plug-in hybrids make their way into the market, the manufacturers and the EPA will have to come up with a different way of estimating their figures. I work out of my home and sometimes don’t drive my car for days. Sometimes I fill up as little as once every 6 weeks! A plug-in could keep me going for a year without buying gasoline. The fuel would go bad before I’d use all of it! But the killer in the story was the price of the Volt – $40,000! It’s an interesting car, not “bad” looking and nothing “original,” but how many do they really think they’ll sell when the Honda Insight is about half the price and the Prius is two thirds the price of a Volt? Continue reading “Future of the Corvette C7 In Peril?”→
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