Holden to bring mid-engined Corvette to New Zealand

Friday, 19 July 2019

General Motors has revealed the all-new mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette - and it is coming here!

While the idea of a mid-engined Corvette is exciting, more exciting is the fact that it will be built in right-hand drive. But even more exciting that that?

Holden has confirmed it will be coming to New Zealand.

'Like anyone with a hint of petrol in their veins, we were glued to our screens watching the reveal of the new Corvette,' said Marc Ebolo, Managing Director of Holden New Zealand.

Holden new Zealand confirmed the Corvette was coming here straight after its global reveal. New police pursuit vehicle, perhaps?

'The news that Corvette will now be built in right-hand-drive for the first time ever – and will be exported to New Zealand – is hugely exciting for our team at Holden and any Kiwi who loves high performance cars.

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'Our team is totally revved up to build on Holden's performance legacy with the most technologically advanced Corvette ever built. We look forward to taking on the European and Japanese performance vehicles with some highly sophisticated American muscle.'

The entry Stingray model will be the most powerful one GM has built.

General Motors has been toying with the idea of a mid-engined Corvette since almost the very beginning.

Legendary GM engineer and 'Father of the Corvette', Zora Arkus-Duntov, was convinced that a mid- or rear-engine layout was the way to go for the second-generation Corvette C2 from 1963, and the company has considered it for every generation of Corvette since.

The mid-engined Corvette Stingray's price will start at less than US$60,000, making it an absolute bargain.

But now they have finally taken the plunge and done it for the all-new 8th-generation C8 Corvette.

Officially called the Corvette Stingray (a legendary name that originated around the same time as the idea of a mid-engined Corvette), the all-new Vette is powered by the 6.2-litre LT2 V8, which is essentially a slightly revised version of the LT1 found in the current front-engine/rear-drive Corvette C7 and the Camaro SS.

Alan Shepard with the new Corvette - complete with 'space-themed interior' - he was given after his 1961 flight.

The C8's LT2 will pump out 370kW of power and 635Nm of torque and GM says it will hit 60mph (96kmh) in 'less than 3 seconds', so around three for the zero to 100kmh sprint then.

No weight has yet been given for the C8, but given that the current 563kW Corvette ZR1 does the 0-60 sprint in 2.8 seconds, we are thinking 'considerably lighter' is a good guess.

Astronauts Dick Gordon, Charles Conrad and Alan Bean ordered identical 1969 Corvettes with a custom paint colour.

The biggest shock for Corvette traditionalists isn't going to be the shift to a mid-engined layout however - it is the fact that the C8 Stingray is not going to be offered with a manual transmission.

The only transmission - initially at least - will be an 8-speed dual clutch set up (GM's first DCT) with wheel mounted paddle shifters.

Those for traditionalists also concerned as to whether or not the C8 will be able to hold a set of golf clubs (truly, that's a thing) the C8 has two storage areas: a frunk at the nose that will fit a couple of small bags and a larger cargo area at the rear that GM say will fit a couple golf club bags.

But the absolute best part of the new Corvette is the price - GM President Mark Reuss confirmed that the Stingray will start at under US$60,000 (NZ$88,500) - which is an absolutely insane bargain for a mid-engined supercar. A 447kW Lamborghini Huracan Evo, for example, costs NZ$339,000.

And despite all of this, this is only the entry-level Corvette.

GM confirmed a Z51 Performance Package will be available that includes track-focussed tweaks and we can safely expect some truly fire-breathing monsters to come from this new generation of mid-engined Corvette. Arkus-Duntov would be very happy indeed.

GM revealed the C8 with a lot of fanfare in the same week that NASA was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, which is extremely appropriate, because Corvettes have been part of the NASA legend for a long time.

Alan Shepard, the first American in space, drove a 1957 model and was gifted a new model after his 1961 flight.

A Chevrolet dealer named Jim Rathmann convinced GM to lease new Corvettes to astronauts for just $1 per year for the sheer publicity value and it worked.

The deal went on through the Mercury and Apollo programmes and despite not being allowed to publicly endorse products, many astronauts were professionally photographed with their specially modified Corvettes.

Perhaps the most iconic image of this time comes from 1969, with Apollo 12 astronauts Dick Gordon, Charles Conrad and Alan Bean sitting on top of their identical Stingrays - all in custom Riverside Gold with special red, white and blue insignia.