What It Is: The seventh-generation Chevy Corvette—a.k.a. the C7—shown in our latest batch of exclusive renderings. These offer a slightly different take than do those that appear in our January issue, which is on newsstands now.
Why It Matters: Performance benchmark, affordable supercar, everyday track monster, sex symbol, halo, or proof that Chevy can build a world-beater—whatever your reason, the Corvette is everything GM can do well, done well. Full-size pickup trucks and family sedans pay the bills at General Motors; the Corvette is the pride and joy.
Platform: Like its predecessor, the C7 Corvette gets its own front-engine, rear-wheel-drive platform. (Sorry, fans of mid-engine designs; that plan is filed next to the California bullet train and abolition of the Electoral College under “For Utopian Discussion Only.” Or until at least the C8.) Like the outgoing Z06 and ZR1, the hydroformed main members of even the entry-level car are now aluminum. Carbon fiber is used liberally throughout the base Vett, and Michelin will supply all the rubber.
Anyone who has cursed the cheap, floppy seats and cheap, floppy switchgear in the current Corvette knows GM needed to make a quantum leap with the C7’s interior. We believe that’s possible, judging by the scuttlebutt within the company; if nothing else, the new car’s cabin will no longer be an embarrassment. We’ve seen Recaros—or Recaro-style chairs—in spy pics, and recent teasers from the company show a modern gauge display.
