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We do not know, but let’s evaluate probables.
1. The May 26th Indy 500 Race features the 2019 Grand Sport as its Pace Car and it also has 33 identical, additional, 2019 Grand Sport “Festival Cars” specifically made for that event. GM has already spend a lot of money creating these cars. This is the first time since 2007 that Corvettes are both the Pace Cars and the 33 Festival Cars.
https://www.midenginecorvetteforum.c...dianapolis-500
Analysis: The C8’s reveal would not be before May 26th because if the 2020 ME Corvette were revealed before then, yet the ME were not the Pace Car, can you imagine the snide shots, “what’s wrong with the 2020 ME Corvette, that you don’t take a chance with it not performing 100% as the Pace Car on national TV?”
2. As GM Authority noted many months ago, and several others have separately chimed in since then, the C8’s reveal would be a “stand alone summer event.”
Analysis: Summer does not officially start prior to June 21st. At its other end, summer ends on September 23th. However, with the rumored SOP (start of customer production) being in December, a reveal in September would not give GM time to reveal it, get out its final ordering specs/Order Guide, have customers to make final option/color decisions, have the orders submitted though the allocation/consensus process, suppliers create/ship the exact parts needed, and all this work seamlessly together to have a December production. Most importantly a major factor in this conclusion is based on GM has always having several months between the first customer orders going in an the start of next generation Corvette’s production — and often way longer than that. Using this important “order submittal to start of production” timeline metric, revealing the ME in September would be, IMO, too late.
3. There are two very large Corvette events in August that I personally believe it would be very important to have the C8 displayed. They are Corvettes At Carlisle starting August 22nd, and the end of August’s National Corvette Caravan, which becomes the National Corvette Museum’s 25th Anniversary Celebration (the latter starting on August 28th).
Analysis: Personally, I do not think the ME would be revealed at either event for several reasons, most importantly because neither is a stand alone GM event. Both are massive gatherings with a ton of existing, tightly scheduled activities. Yet bringing two, already-revealed C8’s to each one, would expose the cars to the tens of thousands of Corvette faithful who attend each of these two events. GM wants to bask in the worldwide attention it gets starting the actual ME’s reveal, so I believe it would want the ME’s reveal to be at least a couple of weeks before each event.
Of course all the above is just a “collection of speculation.” But if accurate, it would lead to the reveal being sometime between June 21st and August 8th.
Even if that timetable would turn out to be accurate, still leaves us with a 45 day window for the 2020 ME’s reveal. As well as it leaving us without, at least as of yet, a place for the reveal.
Might as some are now openly asking, GM announce the date and the location of the C8’s reveal at one of the two “Presentations By Corvette Team” at the NCM BASH toward the end of this month, e.g., the first one Friday, April 26th at 9:00 AM, the second on Saturday, April 27th , at 8:45 AM?
1. The May 26th Indy 500 Race features the 2019 Grand Sport as its Pace Car and it also has 33 identical, additional, 2019 Grand Sport “Festival Cars” specifically made for that event. GM has already spend a lot of money creating these cars. This is the first time since 2007 that Corvettes are both the Pace Cars and the 33 Festival Cars.
https://www.midenginecorvetteforum.c...dianapolis-500
Analysis: The C8’s reveal would not be before May 26th because if the 2020 ME Corvette were revealed before then, yet the ME were not the Pace Car, can you imagine the snide shots, “what’s wrong with the 2020 ME Corvette, that you don’t take a chance with it not performing 100% as the Pace Car on national TV?”
2. As GM Authority noted many months ago, and several others have separately chimed in since then, the C8’s reveal would be a “stand alone summer event.”
Analysis: Summer does not officially start prior to June 21st. At its other end, summer ends on September 23th. However, with the rumored SOP (start of customer production) being in December, a reveal in September would not give GM time to reveal it, get out its final ordering specs/Order Guide, have customers to make final option/color decisions, have the orders submitted though the allocation/consensus process, suppliers create/ship the exact parts needed, and all this work seamlessly together to have a December production. Most importantly a major factor in this conclusion is based on GM has always having several months between the first customer orders going in an the start of next generation Corvette’s production — and often way longer than that. Using this important “order submittal to start of production” timeline metric, revealing the ME in September would be, IMO, too late.
3. There are two very large Corvette events in August that I personally believe it would be very important to have the C8 displayed. They are Corvettes At Carlisle starting August 22nd, and the end of August’s National Corvette Caravan, which becomes the National Corvette Museum’s 25th Anniversary Celebration (the latter starting on August 28th).
Analysis: Personally, I do not think the ME would be revealed at either event for several reasons, most importantly because neither is a stand alone GM event. Both are massive gatherings with a ton of existing, tightly scheduled activities. Yet bringing two, already-revealed C8’s to each one, would expose the cars to the tens of thousands of Corvette faithful who attend each of these two events. GM wants to bask in the worldwide attention it gets starting the actual ME’s reveal, so I believe it would want the ME’s reveal to be at least a couple of weeks before each event.
Of course all the above is just a “collection of speculation.” But if accurate, it would lead to the reveal being sometime between June 21st and August 8th.
Even if that timetable would turn out to be accurate, still leaves us with a 45 day window for the 2020 ME’s reveal. As well as it leaving us without, at least as of yet, a place for the reveal.
Might as some are now openly asking, GM announce the date and the location of the C8’s reveal at one of the two “Presentations By Corvette Team” at the NCM BASH toward the end of this month, e.g., the first one Friday, April 26th at 9:00 AM, the second on Saturday, April 27th , at 8:45 AM?
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