By Steven Symes 
To celebrate the opening of its new advanced design studio in Royal Limington Spa, UK, General Motors showed off a concept car some think might evolve into the C9 Corvette. While that excited some of the Chevy faithful, we’re a little skeptical about how much it will influence the next-gen sports car.
These ten cars made popup headlights look good.
Even if the C9 Corvette ends up looking a lot like this concept, and we would be incredibly shocked if it does, we don’t think that would be a good thing. After all, GM scrapped seven generations of designs and went in a radical new direction for the C8, going with a mid-engine layout.
If this thing were to become the C9, it would be another radical leap, and we’re not even sure it would be forward. The airy, barely-there front end somewhat reminds us of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, only the British hypercar did it better.
Plus, we don’t think America’s sports car needs to become a hypercar. We already in a way aren’t completely sold on the more exotic mid-ship layout, something we know will get a lot of hate. But let’s all be honest here: the C8 Corvette has aged like fine cheese left in the sun.
After all, sales are down, way down, and part of it might be that GM went in too radical of a direction for the C8. Sure, everyone and their grandma’s dog wanted one when they first launched, but they’re suddenly not so hot anymore.
Part of the problem is the Corvette tried to be a little too Ferrari, alienating a loyal customer base. While some could make the price jump that came with the engine sitting behind the seats, for many the attraction of the ‘Vette was the financial accessibility of the car.
If GM were to go with a design like this, we fear it would be another huge leap in price. Maybe it’s true that the Corvette will become a model family, kind of like what Ford has done with the Bronco and Mustang.
In other words, this would be the high-end hypercar Corvette, there would be the regular sports car, then a crossover, and maybe a luxurious sedan. Would that work? Is GM testing the waters by releasing these images of a concept? That could be – after all, automakers do that sort of thing all the time.
Images via GM