Corvette Plant Tours Shuttered Until 2019

Looks like we’ll have to wait longer than expected for plant tours to resume. But it should be worth the wait.

It’s somewhat ironic that we’re actually excited that the National Corvette Museum (NCM) is suspending factory tours at the Bowling Green plant for 18 months. But given the reports that the tours are likely being temporarily shuttered to retool the plant for the forthcoming mid-engine C8 model is cause for some rejoicing.

That’s according to a report by Autoblog, which references news about the NCM cancelling the tours. Yet while scrolling through the NCM’s official website, you can easily miss the note about the plant suspending the tours, because the site makes no mention of a mid-engine model. But no surprise there, right?

CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About the Retooling

That said, there certainly would need to be a lot of work done at the plant to get it ready for a mid-engine Corvette. Rumors say the new Corvette might be getting a DOHC powertrain — another drastic move for Chevy. Whether that’s true or not, it’s hard to imagine GM would shut down its popular and profitable tourist destination for such a long time unless they’re revving up for something really big.

Of course, this is speculation until GM starts releasing teasers just before the C8’s big debut, whenever that is. One thing’s becoming clear, though: with all those spy shots we’ve seen of something riding on a new platform, it appears Corvette fans might finally get a mid-engine model.