CorvetteTimelineW11P07

Corvette Timeline

The Future of Corvette Development
C6 – Corvette Generation Six
– Possible C6 Information from General Motors –

C6 Corvette Teaser – Early 2000

Above added 11-17-2002
This is a composite of photos taken by an audience member at a slide show at the National Corvette Museum in April, 2001. Tom Peters from GM styling showed these as “teaser” photos when talking about future Corvettes. The wall of sketches (top) apparently led to the clay model in the four lower photos. These will be great for comparison when the actual C6 arrives!!

C6 Information from notes that I have taken during C6 Sessions that I have personally attended:

Harlan Charles – Corvette Marketing – January, 2003

Harlan, a member of GM’s Corvette Team spoke to the annual banquet of our Corvette club in mid-January, 2003 and let a few jewels out:

Smaller outside with the same interior room
Natural aspiration is the plan for the foreseeable future for Corvette
The Cadillac XLR sits higher and rides softer than the Corvette C6 therefore modified C5’s are being used as test mules
C6 bodies will not appear on test mules until late spring or early summer
Very specific about the fact that the C6 will be raced only if rules encourage production-based cars, not pure tube-frame “funnies”
The C6 coupe and convertible will definitely have more power than the current (2003) Z06
“As fast as anything on the street”
*All three body styles will be announced at the same time IF Bowling Green can handle them all at once (not going to happen – see below)
All possible European features will be built in rather than added on – rear fog lights, for example
Very interested in our attitude about semi-automatic (paddle-shift) transmissions

Dave Hill – Corvette Vehicle Line Executive and Chief Engineer – April, 2003

Dave Hill made these comments at the April, 2003 Birthday Bash:

XLR 5-speed transaxle can’t handle Corvette torque – 4-speed auto for the C6
Tire options will be available – Goodyear has been chosen as the supplier
*High performance model a year later than the standard models
Showed a picture of test mules with disguised C6 bodies on a road trip – confirmed that most early testing was with C5’s – he called them “Beta” test cars.

Several Corvette and GM Officials – June, 2003

At the June, 2003 Nashville 50th Anniversary Celebration seminars we got the following info:

Above – The opening slide in both the January banquet speech mentioned earlier and in Tom Peter’s talk at Nashville was a back lit picture of what we were to assume was a C6. The only features that I could discern (and have done a poor job of rendering above) were the peaked front fenders (confirmed by the Colorado spy photos), a set of trapezoidal outside rear view mirrors (not seen any place yet) and a smooth roof (which I hope means that all the various roof lumps and ridges seen on the test car spy shots are camouflage).

More from Tom Peters (Corvette styling):

Tom talked about the wheel decision and his slide seemed to show that 19″ diameter front and 20″ rear were the final decision. He did mention later that the C6 would have “bigger wheels” but did not specify numbers for diameter or width
He showed several styling studio pictures similar to the ones below from the National Corvette Museum. His close up shots of the clay models were (surprise!) disguised
Although the back lit teaser mentioned above showed a smooth roof, one clay that Tom showed had fore and aft ribs like the spy shot cars
One interesting, very early shot showed a C5 with clay front fender peaks and a “single hump” hood mock up. The clay model was sitting outside for evaluation
The clay model shown most frequently had a “B”-pillar shape like the C5
It also had tail lights that were mounted higher than the C5

From Dave Hill:

The current test cars were built in February, 2003 and are showing good results
Bob Lutz likes the C6 and did not call for a major revision when he came on board at GM
First public showing is at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit – January, 2004
Launch is summer 2004
The cars seen in the Jim Dunne April 28th shots were referred to by Dave as “Beta cars”
He said the speculation art to date (through June 27th) is “Bad”

From the Saturday roundtable discussion – Dave Hill, Rick Baldick (Corvette Marketing Director), Wil Cooksey (Plant Manager, Bowling Green), Joe Speilman (Manufacturing Executive?):

The last C5 will be a Le Mans Blue Commemorative Edition
The first production intent (pilot?) C6 cars will start down the assembly line in October, 2003
The coupe will be introduced first, the convertible will “be delayed” and the fixed roof coupe will be a year later.
The C6 will have –
– “Stronger” convertible (even less flex?)
– An improved 4-speed automatic
– Four interior colors with more color-keyed panels
– Compass
– Integrated garage door opener
– Heated Seats
– Up and down adjustable passenger air vents (in the vertical plane, C5 vents only go down)

No Right Hand Drive C6 – Hill
“Cadillac will never outrun Corvette” – Cooksey
“Cadillac is a separate line in the plant” – Cooksey
“The C6 is better because of Cadillac” – Hill
No second shift to build Corvettes – 35,000 per year is the plan
Racing is in Corvette’s DNA – The American Le Mans Series looks good – “As long as there is somebody’s butt out there to kick, we are going to kick it” – Baldick
And finally the famous discussion in response to a question from the crowd about C6 performance version maximum power –
– Speilman to Hill – “What does the note that I have been giving to you in all our C6 meetings say?”
– Hill (A little confused and apparently not in tune with Joe’s point) – “Do my best??
– Speilman continues to coach but Dave doesn’t seem to get the point. Finally Joe says “The note I keep putting in front of you says 500 hp”.
– Even with this pressure from Speilman, Dave Hill never did say the C6 performance version would have 500 hp. He repeated his oft stated theme that the current Z06 can win comparisons and competitions regardless of numbers – balance is more important. Apparently, as of late June, 2003, GM does not have consensus on the importance of 500 horsepower.

Gary Cowger – President, GM North America – August, 2003

August 8, 2003; Traverse City, Michigan – GM North America president Gary Cowger said in a speech at the Management Briefing Seminars, an annual auto industry conference: “A redesigned Corvette, the C6, will make its debut early next year. Cowger showed an early “spy” photo of the car in Traverse City and offered a few details: longer wheelbase, shorter overhangs, fixed headlamps for the first time since 1962 and a smaller Corvette badge, or insignia.

The car will be more powerful than the current model. Cowger’s only hint as to how powerful was, “Think about Ted Williams’ unmatched feat from 1941 his batting average.” The late Boston Red Sox slugger’s average that year was .406.”

Dave Hill – Corvette Vehicle Line Executive and Chief Engineer – October, 2003

Dave Hill made these comments October 17, 2003 at the C5 Registry dinner during the Petit Le Mans weekend:

His comments were in the form of a canned speech – he did not take questions.
C6 test cars have intentionally been disguised to look as much as possible like the C5
C6 styling has very complex surface development – “the more you look, the more you see”.
The C6 coupe will be announced at the Detroit Auto Show Press Days (Jan 4-6) then immediately unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show (which runs Jan 2-11, 2004)
The C6 convertible will be introduced at the Geneva Auto Show (March 4-14, 2004)
The first “hands-on” C6 coupe will be shown at the C5 Registry Birthday Bash (April 22-24, 2004)
Coupe sales will start in late Summer of 2004.
Convertible sales will not be far behind.
Z06 a year later
Z06 is further differentiated from the coupe and convertible – “aimed at the extreme performance enthusiast”.
A team is in Germany testing “2 or 3” cars.
They will be going to Alaska soon for further cold weather testing.
The Chevrolet Dealer Advisory Group has driven the C6.
A BBS rep at the dinner said that BBS wheels were being used on the C6-R test cars.

GM Powertrain Press Release

For Release: Oct. 28, 2003, 8 a.m. ET

GM INTRODUCES GEN IV SMALL-BLOCK V-8

PONTIAC, Mich. GM is writing a new chapter in the history of the small-block V-8 with the Gen IV engine, which, when equipped with its innovative Displacement on Demand (DOD) technology in trucks, has the capability to operate more efficiently on fewer cylinders.

An automotive application of the Gen IV small-block without DOD also debuts later in the 2005 Corvette.

The versatility, strength and performance of the legendary small-block V-8 continue to grow, said Sam Winegarden, chief engineer of small-block engines. In trucks weve maintained the broad, usable torque customers depend on for countless tasks, while in the Corvette, weve upped the ante with the largest, most powerful small-block ever offered as standard equipment. Youll have to wait until the 2004 North American International Auto Show to get the details, but believe me, its worth the wait.

Contact:
Randal Fox
GM Powertrain Communications
Phone: (248) 857-0323
E-mail: randal.l.fox@gm.com

GM Pricing Hint

USA Today November 23, 2003 – ” The C6 goes on sale next fall as an ’05 model. Tom Wilkinson, GM spokesman, says it’ll be priced close to the current model, which starts at $44,000.”

Right in Front of Our Face

If you go to the location identified by the red line below at the National Corvette Museum, you will see some very interesting pix:

Above 4-30-03 – This picture hangs in the location noted by the red line. Let’s look at some of the models in more detail and see if they give any clues.

Above 4-30-03 – Clay 1

Above 4-30-03 – Model 1

Above 4-30-03 – Clay 2

Above 4-30-03 – Model 2

Above 4-30-03 – Model 3

Above 4-30-03 – Model 4

Above 4-30-03 – Model 5

Above 4-30-03 – Model 6

Above 4-30-03 – Model 7

Above 4-30-03 – Clay 3 Interior

Above 4-30-03 – Actual models at the National Corvette Museum

Above 11-2001 – GM gave us the Tiger Shark at the 2001 SEMA show to acclimate us to the front grille and maybe some rear panel clues.

Jan 2002 – Did the Pontiac Solstice give us a clue about the wheels and headlights?

Jan 2002 – The Solstice Coupe’s low-mounted rear grille (but not stacked exhausts) has been identified by some sources as a C6 feature.

Above 11-2002 – After the previous Tigershark, GM gave us the White Shark at the 2002 SEMA show to further acclimate us to the front grille and rear panel.

Above 01-05-03 – So, after seeing the Loveland Pass spy pix, might we conclude that the SS concept was giving us a look-in at the C6 fender shape?

Above –
– Wonder how much of this 4-round-taillight rear is C6? It is a further development of the Tiger Shark rear.
– Will Corvette finally catch up with the Malibu and Saturn and get amber turn signals in the US? (The I-696 “lane change signal” spy pic looks like no.)
– Is this the GM styling answer to short rear overhangs? What happens to aero with a “tightly-wrapped” rear?

The Engine Sheet That Got Loose Early

Above – Feb 27, 2003 – A sheet that GM put in the wrong place too early. Very revealing! The LS2 was correct but the LS7 for the Z06 seem less certain as of September 21, 2004.

Good Guess or GM Indirect?

Above – The Italdesign-Giugiaro Corvette Moray concept was shown March 4, 2003 at the Geneva auto show. A new split-window coupe! The red car is the prototype, the blue car is the functional show car. AutoWeek has a great story . Could this be a further indication of how the short rear overhang will be handled?

Vauxhall VX Lightning – British Solstice?

Above May 13, 2003 – “Being launched as a centrepiece to the company’s Centenary celebrations, the VX Lightning is a two-seater roadster based on the same technical foundation as the Pontiac concept Solstice.” – from the Vauxhall press release.