Sit down before reading this. It could be life changing....
An old friend of mine who is a GM Powertrain Tech in Warren, MI called me out of the blue today. He said he just found out they got their budget to do beta development on the "C7's" powertrain. I said , C7? You guys haven't started selling C6's yet!
He say's all this talk of the "Blue Devil" C6 is misinformation meant to keep the journalists at bay. He says there won't be a "Blue Devil" version of the C6. He said that there will be a Z06 or Z07 (as yet undetermined) version of C6 that will be a 2006 model. It will make 50-75 more HP than the C6's LS2.
Here's where it gets interesting:
He says the "C7" will be out, possibly in 07, more likely in 08, and that GM will sell BOTH platforms concurrently.
Both cars will carry the Corvette badge, but each will be significantly different in design, layout, and capability.
Are you sitting down?
He says the C7 is MID-ENGINED. The chassis is coming from the Cadillac Cien concept car, and the price tag WILL be north of 100 grand. They are targetting the Lamborghini Murcielago as the performance benchmark. I asked about the engine layout (OHC, multi valve, aspiration), but he wouldn't tell me. He just said I'd love it.
Like I said, take it with a grain of salt, but this is the same guy who told me in July that the C6 had exposed headlights, an open cowl, and that the interior looked like a reworked C5's. I trust him.
What do you guys think? Is he blowin smoke or do you think its for real. Sound like something stupid GM would do. They seem to mess around with model line and ruin good model names - Impala S.S., Monte Carlo S.S., Chevelle/Nova. I do like the sounds of the C7 though even at $100+.
