Chevrolet Corvette C8 Design Documentary Ends on a Massive Cliff Hanger

The switch to a mid-engine layout was a massive decision from GM, yet it was one that was decades in the making. The team toyed with the idea for a very long time yet never took the leap. Instead, it kept finding ways to improve on the previous model without rocking the boat.

Yet come the summer of 2019, there was no turning back as the first mid-engine Corvette was revealed to the world. Many saw it as a risk, fearing the model's faithful might consider it a step too far, a departure from what they considered to be a Corvette.

Yet the company's executives explain it was the most natural of choices. They say the decision was almost forced on them because they had reached a plateau for the things they could do to develop the previous platform. The only real way forward was to switch to a mid-engine setup, really.

Another person involved with the project points out that if you jump from a C7 into a C8, the overwhelmingly positive way in which the latter compares to the former will make it nearly impossible to look at GM's choice for a mid-engine layout as a "risk." Once you're there, it just makes so much sense that you wouldn't have it any other way.

The great thing about the Chevrolet Corvette C8 is that it makes mid-engine cars relatively affordable. This configuration was usually exclusive to very expensive exotic models such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and McLarens, but now it can be had for a fraction of what those vehicles cost. Because of that, the Corvette C8 will feel like the forbidden fruit - it'll seem like you're cheating the rules of the automotive world, and it'll feel good.

However, it might be about to get even better. Tom Peters, the former director of exterior design and the man who oversaw the development of the C6 and C7 Corvettes, ends the first part of this short documentary with the following words. "I'm here to tell you that that is just the tip of the iceberg. Just imagine where it can go from this point. This is just the beginning." Well, consider us intrigued.