A Comprehensive History of Corvette Concepts and Prototypes

"Money Hustard" (moneyhustard) 10/15/2014 at 09:58 • Filed to: Corvette, Concept Cars

6

23

The corvette is and has always been a car with a potent formula. For decades car enthusiasts and journalists have baffled over how a car could be so good and so reasonably priced. So good, in fact, GM tried many times to push the Corvette magic into many different sizes and shapes. They even considered a whole line of Corvettes:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

That's right, they even tried to make the Nomad happen, which was a Corvette-based wagon.

A few years later in 1956 they concepted the Corvette Impala. I give GM no props, 12 demerits, and a long, shaming stare for not producing this:

And then in 1958, perhaps defeated and depressed about not making the Corvette Impala, they went of the deep end and made:

It took them until the mid-60's to refine this concept into the Mako II, which set the tone for Corvettes until the 80's:

Despite having the Mako design figured out GM made several more leaps in design in the 60's, 70's and 80's. So many mid-engined teasers!!!

The 90's weren't bad either:

For even more photography and more information than you even want about the history of Corvette concepts, check out !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

What's your favorite concept/prototype/production Corvette? Bonus points: rank the top 5.

Edit: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but it's just pure fap (except the interior):

thebigbossyboss > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:01

0

Hello Jag Xj220?

thebigbossyboss > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:02

0

Interesting. A corvette wagon would have been awesome. The GNX was sort of a Corvette like concept in a way.

RazoE > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:06

2

Corvette Corvair. Oh man I love this thing.

RazoE > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:06

0

Callaway C4?

Money Hustard > RazoE 10/15/2014 at 10:06

1

Yeah, it's as grand as Corvette should be.

Money Hustard > RazoE 10/15/2014 at 10:07

1

Yeah, not technically a GM design, but definitely worth noting, I thought.

ZiptieMcBumper > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:08

0

I'll be honest; I love Corvettes, but I've never seen a Corvette concept car that I've liked. I'll give the top 5 a try, though.

5: Astro I

4: XP 700

3: CERV II

2: Mako Shark

1: Corvair/Coupe/Nomad

Money Hustard > RazoE 10/15/2014 at 10:08

1

From the article (which really is rather informative):

OPCs, or Other People's Concepts, often went where GM feared to tread. The most dramatic departure put into limited production by Callaway was the 1996 SuperNatural Le Mans, which was based on the company's 1995 Le Mans GT2 Category racecar. (Dennis Adler photo)

spartygw > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:10

0

Not an official concept car, but this was sketched by former General Motors Brazil design chief Nelson Barros.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:12

2

http://oppositeblog.kinja.com/

Money Hustard > spartygw 10/15/2014 at 10:22

1

You talking about this one?

anonsagainstanonymous > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:27

1

hamana hamana hamana hamana

Money Hustard > anonsagainstanonymous 10/15/2014 at 10:28

0

I had forgotten about the Nomad until putting this article up for Heacock, now it's all I can think about.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:34

1

This is so goofy I can't help but love it

Sn210 > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:35

0

I think my favorite is the 1986 Indy concept

Money Hustard > Sn210 10/15/2014 at 10:46

0

GM wants to put that engine in the middle, they need to just do it already.

Sn210 > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:53

0

Seriously. Just do a limited edition run, it doesn't have to replace the entire line

spartygw > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 10:55

0

That's it. I guess my attachment didn't work.

The front end could use a lot of work but I thought it was cool as a concept. I'm not really into production cars chasing retro designs to that great of an extent. In general I like 1 or 2 signature elements that hint at history but that sketch carries it a little too far.

Audi-os, Amigos! > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 11:05

0

This is great!

You led me on a spree of Googling 1954 Chevy Nomad Wagons. IT'S A FUCKING C1 CORVETTE WAGON OMG GET IN MY DRIVEWAY.

JGrabowMSt > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 11:19

0

I'm a big fan of all the sharks. Tiger Shark, White Shark and Mako Shark. Then theres the Manta Ray which I really love the body style.

But if anything, it's not really a concept, more of a tuner car, but the Halltech C5 Corvettes are STUPID FAST.

Here's a good website with extra details about other Corvettes.

phenotyp > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 14:01

0

Man, those 70's mid-engined concepts were just the tits. So clean. Jerry Hirschberg, soon-to-be president of Nissan Design in CA worked on those.

edu-petrolhead > Money Hustard 10/15/2014 at 16:22

0

I can't imagine nothing more early 90's than a design like this!

Jedidiah > Money Hustard 10/16/2014 at 16:59

0

This is fantastic looking.