SYDNEY: AMERICAN magazine Car And Driver has landed what will likely go down as the automotive industry’s scoop of the year — just eight days into 2015.
The magazine’s spy photographer Chris Doane has caught on camera what appears to be a mid-engined Corvette test mule wearing a Holden Commodore ute body as a disguise.
Car And Driver does not say how or where the photos were taken but it appears to be from a drone inside a General Motors test track, given the height the shots were taken, and the fact that there are no licence plates on the vehicle.
The magazine is adamant this is a pointer to the next generation 2017 Corvette. Picture:
The magazine is adamant this is a pointer to the next generation 2017 Corvette. Picture: Spy photos by Chris Doane, as they appear in Car And Driver magazine. Source: Supplied
The magazine says it captured 82 seconds worth of images before the engineers testing the vehicle covered it up.
The magazine is adamant this is a pointer to the next generation 2017 Corvette, said to be a mid-engined design, with the engine mounted behind the seats (like a Ferrari or Lamborghini) rather than under the bonnet as it is currently.
The contraption could also be a flagship model to sit above the Corvette, to rival the Ford GT supercar which is rumoured to break cover at next week’s Detroit motor show.
Whatever it is, we just hope that General Motors stands by its promise to make all future cars available in right-hand-drive — and then put it on a ship to Australia.
The 2017 Corvette engine is mounted behind the seats (like a Ferrari or Lamborghini) rath
The 2017 Corvette engine is mounted behind the seats (like a Ferrari or Lamborghini) rather than under the bonnet as it is currently. Picture: Spy photos by Chris Doane, as they appear in Car And Driver magazine. Source: Supplied
At the Detroit show two years ago, the then boss of the company Dan Akerson told News Corp Australia that the 2015 Corvette would be coming to Australia “soon”.
But less than 24 hours later, his next in command, Tim Lee, said that was not true and the Corvette was not coming to Australia.
Mr Lee told Australian reporters at the Detroit motor show the next day: “I have no idea what [General Motors CEO Dan Akerson] said but we have no plan to put a right-hand-drive under that bonnet. The Corvette is a Chevrolet, it’s not a Holden, it never will be, next question.”
When Mr Lee was asked how two senior executives with intimate knowledge of the company could make such a faux pas, he said: “I recognise what my boss said, I recognise what [the chief engineer] said, I am telling you as the operating guy in charge there is no plan. I respect my boss, I love my boss. But I think he was giving you an exhortation.”
When pressed again on how two of his senior colleagues could get such key facts wrong during a media interview, he said during the roundtable discussion: “We can spend the entire 20 minutes talking about this. This is a non-story from my point of view. You can write what you want to write, I really don’t give a shit. But it is not in the mainstream plan.”
The 2017 Corvette engine is mounted behind the seats (like a Ferrari or Lamborghini) rath
The magazine says it captured 82 seconds worth of images before the engineers testing the vehicle covered it up. Picture: Spy photos by Chris Doane, as they appear in Car And Driver magazine. Source: Supplied
Mr Lee then repeated his earlier comments: “Currently there is no engineering execution, there is no plan. If the CEO said tomorrow that he wants us to do that [a right-hand-drive Corvette] it would take us years. Don’t go back and sell that story.”
Here’s hoping this mid-engined monster, whatever it is, stands a better chance of coming to Australia. With or without the Holden Commodore ute body.
