To say that General Motors has been secretive about the future Corvette would be an understatement. While the project has had its fair share of fits and starts, an endless stream of spy photos and trademark filings in the last few years solidified the mid-engine Corvette as a reality long before GM acknowledged it. But earlier this month, Chevrolet officially announced the car and that it’d reveal it July 18th. The announcement was followed by the Corvette taking a highly-publicized drive of a C8 prototype through New York City. And while the C8 Corvette received most of the attention, it wasn’t the only GM vehicle in attendance. You could say the next-gen Corvette had quite the security detail.
To the unsuspecting eye, the black Chevrolet Suburban, which appears to be of the Suburban RST variety, looks just like another black limo service. But they’re so much more than that.
The SUVs, sometimes up to five at a time, accompanied the next-gen Corvette as it drove through the streets of New York City.
They likely had multiple purposes, the most important of which is creating a buffer between the next-gen Corvette and the myriad of other cars on the streets of Times Square. The last thing GM wants is for the new Corvette to come into proximity with the city’s various unassuming motorists.
It’s also likely that the SUVs were there in case something had gone wrong – a mechanical failure, car crash, or alien invasion. The last thing the world needs is GM CEO Mary Barra and Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter exposed to the rough streets of the NYC.
The gaggle of security vehicles was also necessary to keep those pesky life bloggers from getting too close. As you can see above, those folks are a sneaky bunch.
Here we have the next-gen Corvette doing its best Kim Kardashian pose – too cool for protection.
Clearing New York City traffic is no easy feat, but the large Suburban SUVs do the trick quite well.
If you’re not looking, the black SUVs are hard to distinguish from the other vehicles on the road.
But an overhead look at the Corvette shows the extent of the security detail: four Suburbans in this shot.
See, there’s another lurking black SUV.
The extent to which General Motors has gone to keep the next-gen Corvette safe, secure and secret is astonishing. While the security vehicles did little to keep people from taking photos and video of the new sports car – which was probably welcome by GM and Chevrolet – they were menacing nonetheless.
The next-gen Corvette will be revealed July 18th. In the meantime, subscribe to GM Authority for more C8 Corvette news, Corvette news, Chevrolet news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
The aerial shot is a really good pic to put into perspective the size of the C8. I was worried with earlier camo cars it seemed like that this car was going to be huge. But that pic shows how low and sleek it really is. It seems to be lower then a C7 and just a tad longer
I hope to hell GM has enough sense to always keep the Suburban and Tahoe truck based.
@Chevy Guy GM has always kept the Suburban and Tahoe BOF, and will always keep them true to their classic American BOF family SUV heritage. Their next-generation redesigns for the 2020 MY will be no different.
If you watch the video, the “security” force was also photographing the Vette as it drove through NYC (0:32). They more than likely shot video from one of them as well. And, as I mentioned before, they had installed LED lighting on the interior of the car (where the visors would normally be) to illuminate the driver and passenger’s smiling faces as they acted out their parts.
The suburbans were all part of a publicity stunt, which probably required permits to shoot.
When it was over Barra and Juetcher probably hoped into one of the suburbans and went about their day.
MY BET THE MAJORITY OF THE SECURITY WAS FOR MARY BARRA. THAT CAR IS OUT CRUISING ALL THE TIME WITHOUT BLACK SUBURBAN ESCORTS. IF YOU WILL NOTICE THE MINUTE THE VET STOPS, THE SECURITY WAS AT HER DOOR AND ALL THE OTHERS WERE BLOCKING THE PERIMETER. PEOPLE IN THESE POSITIONS NOW DAYS ALL RUN WITH SECURITY. EVEN THOUGH THEY LOOK LIKE THEY ARE DRIVING BY THEMSELVES, BUT THERE IS ALWAYS A FOLLOW CAR WITH AT LEAST FOUR BODY GUARDS. MY GOOD FRIEND IS A LA POLICE OFFICER AND WHEN HE IS OFF DUTY HE WORKS WITH A WHOLE CONTINGENT OF OFF DUTY LA OFFICERS PROTECTING MOVIE PEOPLE. ONE IS IN THE HOUSE 24 HOURS A DAY IN A CAMERA MONITORING ROOM, ONE IS AT THE GATE HOUSE AND WHEN HE LEAVES THIS GROUP STAYS IN THE HOUSE AND A JEEP SHOWS UP WITH FOUR GUARDS TO FOLLOW HIM EVERYWHERE. THEY GO BY PRIVATE PLANE AND ALL RESERVATIONS AT RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS ARE UNDER AN ASSUMED NAME.
I bet that millions are spent to protect Machete and dozens assigned to protect her and her family. Especially after November 28 of last year. I guess being one of the most hated CEOs in the nation has its perks.
Why would people want to do her harm?
@ Mr. Pink.
Yes, and I never thought we’d see “Blazer” on a FWD crossover.
I apologise to the corvette fan’s; I only like their color’s & wheel builds. My only fav. corvette style is the 1st gen.!
“The last thing the world needs is GM CEO Mary Barra and Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter exposed to the rough streets of the NYC.”
Take her, please………
The millions spent on this dog-and-pony show could have supported the salaries of dozens of the people she fired. Personally, I think the G8 would have been better served being introduced at an auto show. If GM publicity insisted on driving the Vette through the street, the car should have been driven windows closed, occupants unknown, and driven in a garage with the door immediately shut behind it to lend an air of mystery to it. Instead, it is pulled in the garage, with Barra being too clueless to even open up her own door. Machete Mary ruined this publicity display by making it all about her, but we all know how much she loves the cameras.
The C8 is better as a mid-engine; because it put’s the added lb’s over the traction tires & the wing, body kit 4 arrow-dynamics! If the engine had different internal part’s; that would make the engine have better performance! By the way Chevrolet built the C8: it compete’s w/ the over-seas-cars! (now i’d like 2 see the New GT40 vs The C8 comparison simply because they are built alike)