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2020 Chevrolet Mid-Engine Corvette (C8) Masterfully Rendered

In the May 2018 issue of Car & Driver, the motoring publication focuses on future models from all walks of life. The C8 Corvette is one of them, and as you can tell from the renderings published by Car & Driver, it’s extremely close to the prototypes spied time and time again, on both photo and video.
2020 Chevrolet Mid-Engine Corvette (C8) rendering 25 photos
Photo: Car & Driver
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First things first, let’s point out the obvious. Harley Earl is the man who created the Corvette with influences from British and European sports cars of the 1950s, but Zora Arkus-Duntov is the engineer who penned the concept of a mid-engine design.

The idea surfaced in 1957 thanks to Zora, who was obsessed with racing cars. By 1960, the CERV I single-seat prototype with a small-block V8 was ready to go, serving as the test bed for the C2 Corvette. And the rest, as they say, is history.

This is the reason why some enthusiasts and publications nicknamed the mid-engine Corvette the Zora, though the truth of the matter is nobody knows how it will be called. Except for General Motors higher-ups and high-ranking R&D people, of course.

For the C8 Corvette, customers can expect the standard engine to come in the form of the 6.2-liter pushrod LT1 with an estimated output in the ballpark of 480 to 500 horsepower. This powerplant option is expected to be a high-revving 5.5-liter DOHC V8 of the naturally aspirated variety with a flat-plane crankshaft.

Anticipated to develop 600 horsepower or thereabouts, the 5.5-liter will then be enhanced by a twin-turbo arrangement with two air-to-water intercoolers. Estimates vary wildly, with some voices making a case for 800 horsepower. Referred to as the LT7, the twin-turbo V8 could be an evolution of the 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 introduced by Cadillac with the 550-horsepower CT6 V-Sport.

Last, but certainly not least, there’s talk of an electrified drivetrain. Expected to drop by 2022, the fourth powertrain is rumored to add a 200-horsepower electric motor, which will drive the front axle. In conjunction with the 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8, you’re looking at AWD and supercar-killing performance.

Car & Driver believes the C7 will be built alongside the C8 in Bowling Green, Kentucky until demand for the current generation will drop to a level that isn’t commercially feasible for Chevrolet. On that note, word has it the mid-engine Corvette will be exclusively available with a Tremec-developed eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, namely the TR-9007 DCT.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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