Many a design proposal for the appearance of the Corvette C5, which was the first redesign of the Vette since 1984, was rejected. Specifically, it has been said that the computer rendition of the proposed C5’s rear seen here was too radical, and was therefore shelved for a more conservative look that ended up becoming the C5. But do you see the resemblance to the C7?
Specifically, this design replaced the oval taillights for the more square-shaped (rhombus-shaped?) units while wrapping the entire back-end in an edgy section. The design also featured four centrally-mounted exhaust outlets, diagonal fender vents, and a very broad-shouldered and dynamic fastback shape. With the exception of the quad exhaust, not one of these elements made its way into the C5 or the C6… but the 2014 Corvette C7 Stingray has all of them — albeit implemented rather differently and mated to unique proportions.
The GM Authority Take
This is very interesting, and we can’t help but wonder if the designer responsible for this design was a part of the C7 team. Oh what we would do to find out more about the intricate details of this “similarity”.
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Comments
Haha so the taillights weren’t inspired by the Camaro after all! I guess there was no need to have all that fuss in taillight design. 🙂
The tail lights of my Camaro share this with the C7
1. They are red
2 .There are four of them
3. They both light up red
and lastly they live on the rear of a Chevrolet car…
Yes and the front of the C7 as well as the 6 before it were inspired by the 1898 Columbia Electric Car from the Electric Vehicle Company. It has two electric headlights, though they were optional on the Columbia!
The C7 design is much nicer executed result. You can tell Welburn was involved in the new one to get it integrated into the overall styling theme.
Wow, it’s a shame that rear window didn’t go into production on the C5, beautiful.
WOW! Very interesting article, Alex. Would love to know more about it and see a full side view of the car. Would also like to know just who the original designer was and as you alluded to if that designer was part of the C7 team. It does shed new light on the origin of the rear tail light and the fastback designs. Be worth some more investigative time to unearth more details. Thanks
Gotta tell you: I am on my 9th vette and I would have killed to have had that car when c5’s came out! dunno what the front even looks like but it is a much sportier design and way cooler than the boxy vette we are used to! I can’t imagine why it did not at least show up at a car show to get public opinion. I like it even better than what they ended up with for the c7. Kudos to the design team that came up with that and I hope some listens to them from now on…….
Bold, daring and that’s the way to get ahead!!! Do not listen to the experts, DOA!!!
I saw a week or two ago on another site.
I was not surprised as many ideas GM reject at one point get recycle later on or applied to another car.
The 1990 Fiero GT prototype design was recycled into the 4th gen F body after the GM 80 was canceled as was the Fiero.
John Schinella told me that the design was too good to throw away.
Also the Fiero per Dave McClelland of the Corvette stated in his book that Mid engine V6 car was a proposal the GM tech center group made to the Vette team and Chevy in the late 70’s. He said when Pontiac started on the Fiero they looked to it for lowering the cowl on the Fiero by moving the engine to the back.
GM keeps these ideas handy if they find a need or time they can use them.
Meh, not a fan. Reminds me a little of the DB9 rear view. It is funny that it was too radical after the C5. Although I think after looking at a C5 just now, it was. I think the C7 is very different from the C6 and I like it that way, very edgy. I am happy they went radical with the C7!! Love that this picture puts to rest the tail light issue. 😉
Never in my life will I get to own a car like this , if you need someone to show this around carlisle in august, I’ll be happy to sport it around for the weekend. Thanks Jim