C7

The new C7 Corvette.

Car magazines like my Car and Driver magazine are trumpeting the new C7 Corvette.
The new C7 is splashed all over the cover of its March 2013 issue, and a large section is inside.
Numbered identification of Corvette models began with the C4 for 1984. C4 because the earliest Corvettes through 1962 would be the C1, the new Sting-Rays from 1963 through ’67 would be C2, and the Manta-Ray restyling of 1968 would be C3.
The C4 was a total redesign, and the C5 was a restyle of that, as was the C6 and now the C7.At some time the transmission was relocated to the rear of the car to enhance weight-balance. It may have been the C4, but I don’t think so.
Moving the tranny to the rear is about the only major engineering advance on the Corvette since the C4.

Zora Arkus-Duntov.

In fact, I would say the only major redesigns of the Corvette were:
-a) Zora Arkus-Duntov’s 1963 Sting-Ray (the C2), and
-b) Dave McLellan’s C4. (McLellan succeeded Zora.)
Duntov and McLellan were the guiding forces; Zora an old hot-rodder.
In fact, you could say the Corvette is Duntov’s baby. His ’63 Sting-Ray gave Corvette a chassis equal to its fabulous SmallBlock V8 engine. Prior to Duntov the Corvette was more a joke, a wannabee sportscar that only looked the part.
Although from 1956 on the Corvette became interesting with its SmallBlock V8 and four-on-the-floor transmission (introduced in the 1957 model-year).
The early Corvettes (through 1962) were solid rear-axle — not independent rear-suspension, like the Sting-Ray), more a glorified ’53 Chevy chassis.
The SmallBlock was a watershed engine; a Detroit V8 that performed like a Ferrari.
But those early SmallBlock ‘Vettes were hardly sportscars, not sophisticated. They couldn’t handle. They only had gobs of straight-line acceleration.
But to me the C7 is only a restyle. It’s not the mid-engine Corvette we’ve hoped for over 40 years — since ‘70s Can-Am racing showed us how extraordinary sportscars could be.
Mid-engine Big-Block Chevys in plastic-fantastic.
Mid-engine Corvettes have been dreamed about, but never produced.

This car is a Sting-Ray, a 1967.

Chevrolet keeps giving us front-engine Corvettes, admittedly with the engine toward the middle. Only one mid-engine sportscar was produced by General Motors, the Pontiac Fiero (available with a V6).

A Pontiac Fiero.

But Chevrolet, defending their Corvette, skonked it.
So the C7 is really just a restyle of the C6.
In fact to my mind, the C6 is the best-looking ‘Vette ever, basic and smallish.

A C6 Corvette.

The C7 makes the mistake of picking up styling cues of the new Camaro, which to my mind looks much worse than previous Camaros.
Car-and-Driver says the Corvette is the best car Chevrolet makes, and wishes all Chevrolets were as good as the ‘Vette.
But it’s still essentially a C4.
It’s a really good car, but not the inspiration the first SmallBlock was almost 60 years ago.

• The Chevrolet “SmallBlock” V8 was introduced at 265 cubic-inches displacement in the 1955 model-year. It continued production for years, first to 283 cubic inches, then 327, then 350. Other displacements were also manufactured. The Chevrolet “Big-Block” V8 was introduced in the 1965 model-year at 396 cubic-inches, and was unrelated to the SmallBlock. It was made in various larger displacements: 402, 427 and 454 cubic inches. It’s still made as a truck-motor, but not installed in cars any more; although you can get it as a crate-motor, for self-installation. The “Big-Block” could be immensely powerful, and the “SmallBlock” was revolutionary in its time.