Is it just us, or does it seem like every last morsel of scandale and rumor about the new Chevrolet Corvette has cropped up in the internet’s every nook and cranny? GM employees have been arrested while driving it. One poor example had its wheels stolen while parked in Detroit, Michigan. There are aftermarket parts for it already, and one modded example even lunched its axle at the drag strip. The C8 being the first mid-engined Corvette makes all of these unfortunate events—which in some form or another likely befell previous front-engine Vettes—grab everyone’s attention. But, what if the C8 wasn’t mid-engined, but simply an evolution of the front-engined C7?
Other than erasing the relevance of those C8 maladies we described above, a front-engine eighth-generation Corvette would probably look weird. Or would it? A YouTuber by the name of “TheSketchMonkey” decided to answer that question, and designed his take on the 2020 Corvette with its engine up front. You can see it in the photo above, as well as his detailed explanation for his moves in the video below.
To be honest, most of us at MotorTrend find the looks of the C8 to be more evolution than revolution. Ironically, that means it already resembles a C7 albeit with, well, mid-engine proportions. Instead of the C7’s long hood and a stubby tail, it has a stubby tail and a short hood separated by a long wheelbase, plus a windshield hits at the front axle line and lays back, giving the car a wedge-like appearance. TheSketchMonkey’s rendering of the C8 as a front-engine sports car undoes those advances, bringing the C8’s greenhouse more upright while cleaning up the hood design and lending the whole front end a more grand tourer vibe.
We’re not sure TheSketchMonkey’s rendering is an improvement on the mid-engine C8, nor is it particularly surprising that it resembles a C7 with the C8’s headlights and detailing. But, it sure is food for thought. And that’s where that meal will stay—your thoughts—because Chevrolet is insistent that it’s never going back to the front-engine design. The automaker’s engineers say the C7 took the front-engine format as far as it could go, dynamically, and that the switch to the new mid-engine platform will break through that ceiling and unlock further performance. So, take a good long look at this idea of what the new Vette with the old layout might look like, because you’ll never see it in reality.
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