Mysterious Mid-Engined Corvette Historic Reunion at 2019 Amelia Island Concours Teases C8 Debut
The gathering is scheduled for the day after the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, leading us to believe the C8 debut will happen overseas.
A coincidentally timed gathering of historic mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette prototypes has led to rumors that General Motors will reveal the next generation of Corvette, the C8, at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show in March.
According to a social media post published by Corvette Online, several of GM's historic mid-engined Corvette prototypes will appear together at the 2019 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, on Amelia Island, Florida. This event is dated March 7-10 and starts a day after the final media day at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Corvette Online speculates that GM will reveal the C8 on either March 5 or 6 and then display it in Switzerland and Florida that following weekend, using the C8's mid-engined brethren to promote it.
Contrary to the publication's speculation, General Motors told The Drive that it doesn't have any plans for the Geneva Motor Show.
Test mule sightings, a near-constant stream of alleged leaks, and even key fobs have added fuel to the bonfire that is speculation about the C8 Corvette. Camouflaged, mid-engined, V8 sports cars with Corvette-like styling have been spotted testing at racetracks for years now, leading many to conclude that the C8 will become a mid-engined car—the only thing seemingly certain about the C8, along with its V8 heart.
A Cadillac-badged key fob (and a Chevrolet bowtie variant thereof) depicting a mid-engined sports car with a convertible roof has many questioning the body styles in which the C8 will be available. Reported powertrain options include both traditional and naturally aspirated pushrod V8s and modern, twin-turbo, overhead-cam engines, and there is even word that the Corvette could become a spinoff marque like Cadillac.
One report claimed that the C8's electronics are so complex that testing has revealed a need to re-engineer the vehicle's electrical system, causing an alleged six-month delay until the car's reveal. That doesn't necessarily preclude a C8 reveal in early March, but it doesn't make it look likely.
