The Corvette goes mid-engined—supercar performance for $60,000

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  Chevrolet introduces the 2020 Corvette Stingray, the brand’s first-ever production mid-engine Corvette. [credit: Steve Fecht for Chevrolet ]

TUSTIN, CALIF.—On Thursday night, in a 1,000-foot long (300m) hanger packed with hundreds of attendees, the world got its first proper look at the next Chevrolet Corvette. New for model year 2020, it’s the eighth version of “America’s sportscar” and one that’s radically different to any production Corvette of the past. In the quest for even sharper handling, the engineering team realized the engine would have to move behind the cabin.

This change has been an open secret for some years now, probably to prepare the fiercely loyal and just-as-opinionated fanbase that once freaked out just because the shape of the taillights changed with the debut of the previous generation car. It’s an idea Corvette has played with since the early days, when Zora Arkus-Duntov was in charge. Starting with CERV I in 1960 there have been a stream of experimental concepts with the engine between driver and rear wheels, but none ever made the leap to production car. How times change.

The performance bargain of the century?

Although we’ve known about the impending layout swap, that was pretty much all we knew. Grainy spy shots from places like the Nürburgring and the Milford Proving Ground filtered out, as did rumors of breathtaking performance. But debate raged over the details, particularly the question of whether a supercar layout and supercar speed meant a supercar price. As it turns out the answer is no, for a brand new C8 Corvette (as the new generation is known) will start at under $60,000 when it goes on sale next year. But the stuff about the breathtaking performance? That was all spot on: Chevrolet promises the car will do the dash to 60mph in under three seconds. That’s as fast as the outgoing Z06, a model that has 650hp (485kW) costing $20,000 more.