Was The ME Leaked Even Several Years Ago?

[John]

This is an “oldie but goldie” from 2015 from our friends at CorvetteBlogger. Thank you.

Was the Mid-Engine Corvette Zora ZR1 Intentionally Leaked by GM?

By
Mitch Talley


Could Ed Welburn be giving viewers of Velocity’s Americarna show a sneak peak at the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro and the rumored mid-engine Corvette Zora ZR1?

Or is it just wishful thinking?

Americarna host Ray Evernham recently toured GM’s design facilities with Welburn, the Global Vice President of Design, and definitely got an eye full of “candy.”

On the show, we get a behind-the-scenes look at the inner sanctuary of GM design, where art truly meets science. Welburn tells us that GM was first to use clay to design cars in the 1920s, and they still do today, only now computerized equipment helps carve out the rough design in clay before turning over the fine tuning to talented designers with their hand-held tools.

We meet Christine Park, Lead Designer, Chevrolet Design Studio, who reveals to Evernham that she is currently working on a Chevrolet sports car concept car.

On the computer screens where she is toiling are images of what could be future Chevrolets that surely were placed there on purpose by management, wouldn’t you think?

On her main screen, we see a car that would be a pretty nice version of the upcoming second generation of the new 2016 Camaro, and in the background is another image of a cool looking car that looks to us like it could well be the mid-engined Corvette rumored for years.

We’re sure Welburn and his team will get a chuckle out of all this speculation about the images they chose to display. For all we know, they might just be rejects from a stack of hundreds. On the other hand, though, could the designers just be trying to get a clandestine feel for public sentiment without laying all their cards on the table?

Only time will tell, but if these images turn out to indeed be future Chevrolet sports cars, we’d sure like to be first in line to buy one!

http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2015/...-leaked-by-gm/

[Brad]

Americarna is a good show that I watch whenever it is on. I remember that episode but didn't really pay close attention to what was on her screen.

One of the things that keeps being seen on that show is Rick Hendrick's private collection. I am going to a Corvette show at Hendrick Motorsports in October and one of the available features is a tour of the collection.

[John]

I friend of mine who is 40+ year employee of GM Powertrain, worked within BGA’s Powertrain Build Center, though last year moved to a separate building on the BGA property that he and other employees joke is “entrance by retinal scan only,” and who has been featured on Hot Rod magazine building motors, was invited by Rick Hendricks to a personally guided tour of Rick’s collection. During that tour, Rick talked about his personal favorite 10 vehicles, of which two of those car’s motor were later verified to have been built by my friend. He also built the LT5 in the ZR1 convertible that was revealed in LA last November (saw his name on the motor’s build plaque), and most recently, his name plaque was on the 4.2L DOHC, “hot vee,” TT Cadillac CT6 motor revealed at the New York Auto Show

He is a great friend, and also a great friend of GM’s and while I never ask, he has never volunteered any inside information other than one thing he shared about his work the day I met him. I did not know what I did, other than he worked at BGA, and asked him, “what do you do?,” and he replied, “I can not tell you anything more other than I know all of Corvette’s powertrains for many years into the future.” That was my first and last question I have ever asked him, and he never volunteers anything. ****.

With another friend in our trio, we have joked that the very day our Powertrain Specialist friend retires, we want to do a car jacking on his way home but not steal his car, just do a “info extraction of his brain, of all Corvette powertrain knowledge he knows.”