First rolling off the line for the 1953 model year, the first-generation Chevy Corvette is an iconic piece of automotive design, instantly recognizable to car fans around the world. With that in mind, it’s probably not all that surprising that Chinese automaker Songsan Motors made a near-exact copy of the C1 when styling its new SS Dolphin plug-in hybrid two-door.
As any Vette fan can tell, the new Songsan Motors SS Dolphin is essentially a direct copy/paste job of the 1958 Chevy Corvette C1, with identical lines front to back, including quad rounded headlamps, vertical grille slats for the front intake, offset detailing lines in the profile, and rounded rear fenders.
Both a Coupe and a Convertible will be offered.
As outlined in a post to the CarNewsChina.com Facebook page, this Chevy Corvette ripoff is equipped with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, including a turbocharged 1.5L engine and electric motor combo. Total system output is rated at 315 horsepower and 395 pound-feet of torque, with a six-speed dual-clutch transmission handling the cog swaps. Funny enough, output is routed exclusively to the front wheels, but the company still claims a sprint to 100 km (62 mph) in 5.9 seconds. The SS Dolphin also comes with a 16-kWh battery, and can cover more than 60 miles on EV power alone.
Inside, this hybrid C1 Chevy Corvette ripoff comes with a retro-looking interior that’s offset by a host of modern touches, such as a digital readout behind the steering wheel, a touchscreen on the dash, and a multi-function steering wheel festooned with buttons. The exterior also comes with LED lighting. In place of the original Corvette badging, we see a chrome dolphin.
As for pricing, Songsan Motors is offering the SS Dolphin Coupe for 598,000 yuan, or about $87,725 at current exchange rates. Pricing for the Convertible model is not yet available.
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Comments
You have to be kidding?
it’s better than a C8 crap….
It’s fugly !
As they aren’t selling these as one off customs but as new vehicles…. I smell GM going after them soon.
I know there is some talk about reproduction cars in the US and manufacturing them but I think they have to enter into a license agreement….
Looks like a poorly done cartoon caricature.
“..With identical lines front to back..” NOT!!
More like “Kind of similar lines” or “vaguely familiar lines”… but nothing CLOSE to “Identical”.
It might sell over there… but it would never survive here in America. REAL Corvette owners and enthusiasts would throw Rocks at it as it hums down the road…
If it were a pair of cheap gym shoes with the thin sole and the thick toe they’d be tied together and hanging up on the side of a checkout line in a grocery store or discount store in 1971 for a whopping blue light special of $1.55 with a 66 block or 3 week warranty (WHICHEVER COMES FIRST) and a government warning to not wear in temperatures above 82° or they’ll disintegrate on impact during a rearend collision. That car is as dreadful and goofy looking as a STUDENT DRIVER sign on a PT LOOZER hearse.
A “near-exact copy of the C1”??? Are you joking, or are you blind?
That pig of a car (and I use the term, ‘car,’ loosely; it looks more like something out of a cartoon) has proportions nowhere NEAR those of a 1958 Corvette.
Gimme a break…………..
Hey, think again. All cars are much the same, an engine in the front, a cabin, a boot at the back, and the possibilities in terms of variety are limited. This looks vaguely like an old Corvette. So what? These people make good cars
Not too bright are you? Think before you engage fingers! “These people make good cars”? Haha haha. Funniest thing I’ve read in a really long time!
We were talking about cars, I think. Not about my degree of brightness. Or yours. But since personal remarks have begun, are you just joining the general chorus of snide remarks about Chinese goods, or do you really have some experience of Chinese vehicles?
This is what a totally lack of imagination brings because not very many people will want this ‘thing’ especially as it’s a hybrid and not a true electric vehicle.
It may not be identical but it’s instantly recognizable as a Corvette…unless the CCP says it’s not.
Poor China, doesn’t know how to create something of their own. The steal every idea they have. As typical Chinese they hate the west but desperately try to prove their just as smart by take great ideas and making them into garbage.
Definitely not a ’58. It’s missing the most iconic pieces on the ’58, the two stainless steel spears that go down the both sides of the trunk.
Crazy expensive too. You can get a nice version of the real deal for far less.
You do realize they don’t have a ton of C2s for sale in china right? So who cares if some Chinese man wants a classic Corvette but can only afford/get this. You all say a real one is cheaper, but I’m pretty sure after importing a real one, then trying to actually register a car and grease the palms of the government only to have them “quarantine” it anyway, this seems like a way for them to live out a dream. Who cares. And I’m pretty sure GM quit selling these about 60 years ago.
Front side profile is the givaway not for me ill stick with my c3 stingray vertible.
At almost 90k, I’d buy a real C1
All these people in the comments all mad about it like, “ChInA cAn’T mAkE aNyThInG oRiGiNaL, iT’S uGlY” well, its a tribute car, its not going to look exactly the same. put it this way, its introducing c1’s to a new generation. and I bet all the money i’ve ever earned that if it was made in America instead of China you guys would be praising it and saying it’s great. losers everywhere
This not very good knock off to start with. For 87,000 dollars it a poor version of a kit car. China has no concept of quality only slip slap mass production. Thats Why Chevrolet laugh at them.
I always thought if they can make hybrids sexier and more characterful, they’d sell. Well, they plagiarised a first generation Corvette and did a bad job of it at the front. It just goes to show that China can no longer come up with anything original, but this is down to the west’s desire for cheap stuff made by cheap labour. You end up with bad quality work.
If only they made it rear wheel drive, it could be a good performer.
I love it. It is gorgeous and I’d buy one in a heart beat. <ost Americans are bitter as no comkpany inthe US can afford to revive the old classic cars. But the Chinese do, and they are doing it in style.