Are you a Chevrolet Corvette fan and not feeling the current C8? Does the missing manual transmission give you a conniption? Then check out this Corvette concept developed by General Motors’ UK design team as part of a global design project. The team is part of a new advanced design studio near Birmingham, England.
“As part of the Corvette creative study, we asked multiple studios to develop hypercar concepts, which we’ll see more of later this year,” says Michael Simcoe, senior VP of global design. “It was important that they all pay homage to Corvette’s historic DNA, but each studio brought their own unique creative interpretation to the project. That is exactly what our advanced design studio network is intended to do—push the envelope, challenge convention and imagine what could be.”
General Motors claims there is a multiple personality aspect to this futuristic Corvette, as the distinctive division between the top and bottom halves captures different elements. The top half is a futuristic take on Corvette design hallmarks like the backlite from the “Split-Window” ’63 and the peaked front fenders from the C3 that was introduced in ’68; the bottom half focuses on more technical aspects like channeling air efficiently without the need for wings or spoilers. In fact, if you recall the 1986 Corvette Indy concept and its evolved younger brother, the 1990 CERV III (the third version of the Corporate Engineering Research Vehicle), you can see how this current concept may be an heir apparent of sorts. History has shown that the production-ready mid-engined prototype didn’t take at the time, but the C8 gave enthusiasts (and, posthumously, Zora) their mid-engined Corvette.
“Our advanced design team’s mandate extends well beyond creating production vehicles,” adds Simcoe. “While they collaborate within our global design network on production and concept vehicle programs, these teams are primarily tasked with imagining what mobility could look like five, 10, and even 20 years into the future and driving innovation for GM.”
Thanks to the new, 24,584 square-foot UK design studio (led by seasoned designer Julian Thomson), GM is showing its commitment to Europe as Cadillac makes inroads with its EV business, and as Chevrolet prepares to launch Corvette sales across the continent. It joins other regional studios that include Los Angeles, Shanghai, and Seoul (among others), all of which give valuable insights into respective customer and cultural trends “to drive ideation, innovation, and collaboration” across the organization.
The UK studio also has been working on a GMC concept vehicle in conjunction with GMC’s design team in Detroit; this will be revealed later in 2025.
