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Mid-Engine Corvette Key Surfaces

There’s no more denying the mid-engine Corvette is coming.

With an expected debut at the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit early next year, the C8 Corvette is coming, and it’s coming fast. The latest proof the mid-engine Corvette is imminent comes in the form of an FCC application for a new keyfob design by German mechatronic supplier Huf Huelsbeck & Fuerst. It’s similar to the alleged Cadillac version that surfaced earlier this month in that it appears to show the outline of the mid-engined vehicle with an identical button layout, but different because of the Corvette logo that now appears on the back. This certainly furthers the popular (yet highly unproven) hypothesis that GM is potentially working on two different branded mid-engine vehicles.

According to Road & Track, the application also seems to confirm the mid-engine Corvette C8 will headline Chevy’s crop of 2020 model year vehicles. The test reports state that the part is a “GM MY20 B1 KEYFOB” and that the sample unit on hand is of “Pre-Production” quality, further lending credence to the 2019 NAIAS theory.

Mid-Engine C8 Corvette at Nürburgring

Pictures of the fob’s internal circuit board were also stamped with GM’s corporate logo meaning there’s no more denying this thing is well along the development cycle. Additionally, included diagrams seem to indicate the new Corvette-as-Zora-intended is planned for global release, with the fob showing markings for regulatory agencies in Europe, Taiwan, and Japan alongside those for the US and Canada.

The car’s receiver module already has a GM part number assigned to it, 13529177, which means we now actually know more about the opening, closing and starting capabilities of the key fob than we do about the rest of the C8 mid-engine Corvette combined. The car has been spied testing at the high-speed Nurburgring Nordschleife, in the high-altitude environs of Colorado, and executing low-speed validation testing at a McDonalds in Cadillac, Michigan.

Known to Al Oppenheiser as "that long-haired Canadian".

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Comments

  1. Latest reports state maybe a New York unveil. If it was Detroit shouldn’t we have seen teasers by now? Like the gt500.

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    1. Reply
      1. “Remember when Alex and Sean were chastising GMA readers for saying NAFTA was dead? ”

        No. Do you remember? Could you post a link to even prove it, because it’s not enough to take someones word for it anymore.

        Reply
  2. Maybe GM is doing something smart and moving the corvette over to the cadillac umbrella

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    1. That’s not smart Corvette can be on it’s own or stay with Chevy

      Reply
  3. What I find strange is that the Bowling Green Corvette factory tours are temporarily halted right now.

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    1. They are halted as work is going on to add this new car to production.

      It will be in production with in the next 10 months.

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      1. is santa’s factory open just before christmas

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  4. Why not both ?? … Meaning, Cadillac can have a supercar as well as Chevrolet. Similar to what Lamborghini and Audi are doing. Giving Chevrolet the more hardcore one, while Cadillac has the sleeker GT car with a luxurious interior.

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    1. I gave you an upvote, but you need to watch yourself calling the Corvette a supercar, buddy!

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      1. lol I admit “supercar” would be a surprise but it isn’t far fetched. But you never know, it could be an unintentional supercar. But yeah, we can only hope and dream of a beautiful fluke.

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    2. Maybe some point in the future. But Cadillac right now needs to figure out how to sell their core products like the Comung CT5 and coming XT models before they move to a token high priced sports car that will provide little profit.

      Also they have two strikes on two seat cars. They can not afford a strike 3.

      The car also has to offer something the Mid engine Corvette does not offer. Another XLR will fail like again.

      Cadillac needs to earn the right and trust with customers on core products to have a right to sell an expensive sports car. If the can not get the $50k car right only an idiot would lay out six figures for a Cadillac.

      Reply
      1. Maybe, but a mid-engine luxury sports car would be a great marketing tool for Cadillac. Kind of like what Acura does with the NSX.

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        1. You have to have something worth marketing first.

          Don’t get the driver in front of the engine before they are ready.

          Cadillac could use a CT4 based roadster first that could be markets around $50k fiest. Put a good trunk on it and make it good GT. Sharing parts with the CT4 would do more for marketing .

          A rebodied Corvette would run into the same issues as the XLR did were it was more explensive but not faster or better.

          The NSX sells NSX. It really has little effect on Acra sales other than its own.

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  5. Kind of Ugly

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  6. GM will launch the mid-engine Corvette next fall with the 6.2 L V8 but promise a modern new 5.5 TT V8 is coming. The reviews will be ho-hum; a great chassis in search of a high-reving modern engine they’ll say. After an initial splash with good sales in 2020, the model will see significant volume declines in 2021 and 2022. For 2023, the new engine will arrive finally completing the C8. However, by then, the GM accountants will cancel the car citing its high cost and a need for the corporation to focus on the upcoming redesign of the higher margin Tahoe and Yukon and a reskin of the much cheaper to build C7.

    It’s the GM way. It happens over and over again. No need to get excited, C8 will live as long as the last mid-engined GM car did which was about four years for the Pontiac Fiero. I hope I’m wrong but there’s an undeniable pattern at play.

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    1. I was just explaining this stupendously stupid GM history to my wife earlier today as we drove in our Volt and I tried in vain to give some rationality to them dropping the Volt in March.

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      1. $38K for a terrific commuter hatch. what is there to explain. without the expiring tax credit, would anybody buy?

        i can get a nice honda insight that gets 50+mpg for $25K that fills that commuter role very nicely and no tax credits required.

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    2. did this happen with the c7?

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    3. No I’ve bsck once the swap to the mid engine.

      The Fiero failed due to internal GM competition as the Corvette people were afraid it would erode their sales and make them vulnerable. Yes this is documented.

      While this was going on Pontiac put the Fiero in the Pontiac MI plant that needed 250,000 production capacity to be viable. They were banking on the GM80 program to fill out capacity. That was the FWD F body replacment that was canceled. That sealed the fait of the Fiero along with the other bits of baggage it accumulated.

      Having been involved with the Fiero back as far as 1980 and owning one for 33 years I can tell you there is no pattern here.

      Reply
  7. Who the hell has been denying it?

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  8. Looks to me like GM is going to stop calling this a “Chevrolet” and just give it it’s own name and sell it at Chevy with three configurations (eventually) and give it some other name without a “Cadillac” name on it and sell it at Cadillac.

    Reply
  9. Thanks for sharing the information. That is very helpful for increasing my knowledge in this field.

    Reply

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