C7 Corvette

[Jims5543]

Mid engine V-8...... Hmmmmm.......

[DavidI]

There is a brief write up in WInding Road Magazine and it looks awesome!

[the]

Originally posted by legion
I always thought it would be fun to fabricate a mid-engined sports car with an SBC.

Looks like Chevy beet me to it...

Lots of others have beat Chevy to it.

[dd74]

Originally posted by the
That's whack.

As pointed out above, the Fiero was a mid-engined Chevette.

Pontiac had plans to twin turbo charge the 2.8 and make a Ferrari eater out of the Fiero. Problem was the car would possibly be faster, and undoubtedly handle better than the Corvette. Chevrolet was against this, of course, as the Corvette was their marque car. Research it. This has been documented in a few car magazines as one of the reasons the Fiero was killed.

[the]

Originally posted by dd74
Pontiac had plans to twin turbo charge the 2.8 and make a Ferrari eater out of the Fiero. Problem was the car would possibly be faster, and undoubtedly handle better than the Corvette. Chevrolet was against this, of course, as the Corvette was their marque car. Research it. This has been documented in a few car magazines as one of the reasons the Fiero was killed.

Yeah, and if my aunt had nuts she'd be my uncle.

Some unfulfilled "plans" does not equal "already tried a mid-engine Corvette."

GM never tried a mid-engine Corvette with the Fiero.

Originally posted by dd74
Didn't GM already try a mid-engine Corvette with the Fiero?

[dd74]

Originally posted by the
Yeah, and if my aunt had nuts she'd be my uncle.

Some unfulfilled "plans" does not equal "already tried a mid-engine Corvette."

GM never tried a mid-engine Corvette with the Fiero.

Again, do your research. They fulfilled the plans, and the car did serious credibility damage to the Corvette's ability as the top American road car. GM top brass thought "the better" and killed it.

To worsen things (I imagine in your view), a couple aftermarket people came out with turbo kits for the Fiero back in the day, and it produced more horsepower than the stock Corvette engine.

I'm not saying the Fiero is a better car. I'm only saying there has been serious internal competition from other GM's division to potentially knocking the Corvette from its position.

But then, I imagine you don't think the CTS V (a four-door sedan) can pose a competition threat to the Vette on the race track. Well, it has.

[tchanson]

Originally posted by scottmandue
They have been talking about a mid engine Corvette for over a decade...

A decade? The General has been periodically floating the same old PR balloon for almost 40 years... Excuse my skepticism.


1968:





1970:




1971:




1973:





1976:




1990:




I'll believe it when I see it, interest level or lack thereof notwithstanding.



Tim

[dd74]

I'm interested. GM's building some good stuff lately. Hell, I've even retracted my dis of Ford and its products. Those Shelby Mustangs are awesome, and the Ford GT, no matter what I've said in the past, is a damn nice piece of engineering.

[the]

Originally posted by dd74
I'm only saying there has been serious internal competition from other GM's division to potentially knocking the Corvette from its position.

All may be true. But the Fiero was never an attempt by GM to build a mid-engined Corvette. Even if they would have built a high performance version of the Fiero that was a fast as a Corvette, it would have been a high performance Fiero, not an attempt to build a mid-engined Corvette. The Fiero had nothing to do with the Corvette, mechanically or otherwise.

It would be like saying the 944 Turbo was an attempt by Porsche to build a front engined 911.

[BeyGon]

Originally posted by legion
I always thought it would be fun to fabricate a mid-engined sports car with an SBC.

Looks like Chevy beet me to it...

Would a 914 with an all aluminum chevy qualify? Seen those.

[Aerkuld]

I'll take the 1968 model from Tim Hanson's post please - I like!
Then again 1968 was a very good year.

[Jims5543]

The 1973 Model was to have a Rotary Engine in it. One Prototype they made had a 2 rotor engine another had a 4 rotor engine.

[Tervuren]

Originally posted by the
All may be true. But the Fiero was never an attempt by GM to build a mid-engined Corvette. Even if they would have built a high performance version of the Fiero that was a fast as a Corvette, it would have been a high performance Fiero, not an attempt to build a mid-engined Corvette. The Fiero had nothing to do with the Corvette, mechanically or otherwise.

It would be like saying the 944 Turbo was an attempt by Porsche to build a front engined 911.

Bad analogy there - that was the original mission of the 944 Turbo - the Turbo is not a special version of the 944, the 944 is a cheap version of the Turbo. The Turbo was the original design, but they released the 944 NA first to replace the 924, it would of originally still had t he 924's narrower fenders, but it got those belonging to 944 Turbo's.

The 944 Turbo would of come out sooner, but there where labor strikes delaying production.

[URY914]

I've been waiting to post this...

[turbo6bar]

Originally posted by Tervuren
Bad analogy there - that was the original mission of the 944 Turbo - the Turbo is not a special version of the 944, the 944 is a cheap version of the Turbo.

Huh. The 951 is a front engined 911?

[sammyg2]

Zora always wanted to make the corvette a mid engined car from day one. GM brass shot him down every time.

[TimothyFarrar]

Seems like the natural progression to me.

At least they got smart by placing the gearbox in the rear and removing those popup headlights...

[kach22i]

Problem solved, and put a $200,000 price tag on it, and limit production.

[Jim Richards]

That looks kinda cool. But 200G's? Yikes!

[kach22i]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
That looks kinda cool. But 200G's? Yikes!

That's just a number I tagged it with. The $150,000 Ford GT was not going to compete with a Boss or Shelby Mustang so it did not have to sell for $200,000. What's a special top of the line Vette list for these days?

For a base line:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_F430

The MSRP for a Ferrari F430 is between $168,005 - $227,000 in the United States.

Vette:
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/04/spy-shots-corvette-ss-z07-stingray-caught/

Winding Road asserts that the Z07 will be made available in late 2007 as a 2008 model, with a price expected to be in the $100,000 ballpark.

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2008/cadillac/xlr/index.html#

2008 Cadillac XLR Styles
MSRP Price Range: $78,760 - $84,160