Bob Lutz is back again, and this time, he has taken the time to answer a few Road & Track readers’ questions. The highlight of them all? Whether or not Chevrolet truly needs a mid-engine Corvette.
The question comes in the context of Chevrolet one-upping long-time rival Ford and the GT. To answer Lutz stated the following:
Well, neither Chevrolet nor Cadillac “needs” a mid-engine car. A mid-engine Corvette would likely coexist with the regular model but be priced at least $30,000 to $40,000 higher, my guess, about $130,000 to $150,000. A logical assumption would be 700 to 750 hp, massive torque, and decent fuel economy. GM won’t do it unless it’s a world-beater, so we should expect it to suck the doors off all the Europeans (Veyron excluded) and the Ford GT, which, while a nice car, would soon seem poor value. A possible Cadillac execution would have to exceed the Corvette and would be priced higher. I’m all for it, and I definitely “need” at least the Corvette.
Lutz has already commented on a previous mid-engine Corvette program while he was employed by General Motors. The project was shelved at the height of the Great Recession and GM’s restructuring.
And as for Buick, Maximum Bob tackles the state of itself, too. The question references whether or not a high-horsepower, rear-wheel drive car will show up from the brand anytime soon, to which, he responds:
The Buick brand is in the best shape it’s seen for decades. Design and product excellence, especially refinement and silence, have moved the perception of Buick into genuine luxury territory. I believe a top-of-the-line rear-drive car is possible, using the Cadillac CT6 architecture. China would love that car, but it may be a low priority in the product portfolio, since everything has to be crossovers these days.
If you’d like Lutz to have a look at your questions, be sure to head to R&T link here to submit them.
Comments
The mid engine question was from me haha
“The question references whether or not a high-horsepower, rear-wheel drive car will show up (for Buick) anytime soon — ”
— I’m still a GM Newbie of one year (if you forget my parents Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles and such) but EVEN I KNOW that idea has STOOOOPID written all over it. Buick is establishing itself as extra nice cars at affordable prices with Japanese reliability.
DO NOT MESS WITH THAT.
Instead, perhaps, if one MUST birth a car like this — a Pontiac One-Off.
John–Wrong! Today’s Buick must pick up the “white space” within GM created by the closure of Pontiac Olds and maybe Saturn while competing head to head with Lexus (the brand Toyota chose to battle Olds, Buick, Pontiac and Cadillac).
Turn your hat around, you look like a dork. (Great! Now I’ve become my father)
Bob Lutz is a brilliant man; but one has to wonder whether a mid-engine car needs to cost $30-40K more expensive than a current C7 Corvette because what if Chevrolet engineers have developed an engineering approach to build a mid-engine Corvette for possibly just $5-10K because we’re not talking about reinventing the wheel.
Imagine a mid-engine C8 Corvette with a base price of $65K, a Z06 for $95K and a ZR1 for $150K; the ZR1 would be as Lutz suggested would be capable of gunning for the Bugatti Veyron.
I think he is just looking at the initial offerings and price strategy.
The talk I have heard is the first model along side the Stingray is $170K targeted.
As the Stingray is replaced a cheaper version will be brought out that would be based around $70K.
I see no reason for a cheaper car not being offered. You do it in SMC and you also offer the Stingray engine. Moving the engine back and the cab forward should not add much other than cooling lines and AC lines that are longer.
Corvette already has a trans axle that they can remove the torque tube from and just move the engine back. The suspension would not need to be radically different.
Now the expensive car would like the ZR1 make use of more carbon and a more powerful engine, brakes and larger tires. All added cost items.
Mid engine is not what adds cost to a car like this. Most mid engine cars are models from Ferrari and others that sell in very low volumes with very expensive materials. They ask the high price just because they can. Also they limit sales at small numbers to increase demand at those prices.
Fiat, GM , Toyota and Honda have all build cheaper mid engine cars in the past. We must keep in mind it is not the location of the engine that adds the cost here.
Is this a photo from some past event? Otherwise, whats with the HUMMER display behind Bobby?