MOTOR: Corvette looks safe

This is how the next generation of the iconic Chevrolet Corvette could look.

It is the first in a series of Corvette hypercar concepts scheduled for unveiling through 2025 and was given its first public airing to celebrate the opening of a new General Motors design studio in the UK.

The stealth-fighter styling of the concept car is the work of a UK team under the leadership of Julian Thomson, formerly with Jaguar.

The new studio is at Leamington Spa, in the automotive heartland of Britain, and joins existing design studios in Detroit and Los Angeles in the USA, Shanghai in China and Seoul, South Korea.

There was once, too, a studio at the Holden headquarters in Melbourne.

The new UK facility has a staff of more than 30 designers and creatives and is equipped for both digital and physical development of clay models.

The brief for the Corvette hypercar came from Mike Simcoe, the Australian who leads all global design for General Motors. He is retiring later this year but is clearly going out on a high.

His brief for the Corvette concept was simple.

"We asked multiple studios to develop hypercar concepts, which we’ll see more of later this year,” Simcoe said.

“It was important that they all pay homage to Corvette’s historic DNA, but each studio brought their own unique creative interpretation to the project. That is exactly what our advanced design studio network is intended to do – push the envelope, challenge convention and imagine what could be.”

"Our advanced design team’s mandate extends well beyond creating production vehicles. While they collaborate within our global design network on production and concept vehicle programs, these teams are primarily tasked with imagining what mobility could look like five, 10, and even 20 years into the future and driving innovation for GM."

There is not even the mildest hint on what could be lurking under the skin of the concept car, although some sort of hybrid powertrain with a classic V8 combustion component is most likely.

Instead, the emphasis is on the design work – including gullwing doors and a central spar in the windscreen.

“One of the most unusual and significant aspects of our concept’s design is a feature known as Apex Vision,” said Thomson.

“A nod to Corvette’s center-line focus, and inspired by the iconic ‘split window’ 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, this feature emphasizes a singular vertical central spine that is also a structural element, also providing a panoramic view of the road and surroundings.”

The radical look for the Corvette is intended to push the edge of Chevrolet design, but the car is also intended to provide driving enjoyment for road and track.

Like other advanced hypercars, including the T.33 by Gordon Murray, the 'vette has active aerodynamic systems.

GM says the design includes fan assistance and active ducting to redirect air over and through the vehicle, with track features that allow the body surfaces to re-configure with dorsal fins and spoiler venting to create aero vectoring to enhance cornering performance.