Front-Engine Corvette is Here to Stay

Everybody’s talking about the forthcoming mid-engine Corvette, but don’t worry, the classic will remain.

Thanks to some spy shots we shared with you recently, we now are nearly certain that a mid-engine Corvette is coming, and that it will debut sooner rather than later. We’re Corvette fans and we’re excited, and you’re Corvette fans and you’re excited. There are lots of reasons to get excited for the new GM mid-engine supercar, but don’t think for a second the front-engine Corvette we know and love is going away.

If you look closely at the spy photos, you’ll see there’s a red Porsche 911 tagging along with the two prototypes. That’s a 991.2-generation Turbo S. That car will accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds. It’s a performance benchmark, and it makes sense for Chevrolet to test its high-performance Corvette against it. It’s likely the cars we see camouflaged here are the ones who will compete directly with that particular Porsche.

Chevrolet knows the Corvette is a performance bargain, and building a mid-engine car is simply more expensive than building a front-engine car. Additionally, a front-engine car is a bit more practical. Chevrolet still wants to get people into the Corvette club, and they’ll continue to build a front-engine ‘Vette for that very reason.

While prices have definitely increased over the years as performance has increased, the front-engine ‘Vette will still be the entry-level car. While Chevrolet may offer multiple versions of the mid-engine car, including a naturally-aspirated V8 and a supercharged one, those will both be premium products in the way the Audi R8 is a premium product.

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Also, we don’t know if the mid-engine Corvette will be called “Corvette”. A lot of us have speculated in the past that the Zora name might be used for the mid-engine performance car. At this point, though, we simply don’t know.

What we do know is Corvette already has name recognition where Zora doesn’t. Even if the Corvette family gets larger, it doesn’t mean it’s the end for the affordable Corvette sports car. More choice is always better.