ZORA’S MID-ENGINE XP-882 CORVETTE

Posted on February 9, 2023February 9, 2023 by MartynL

Automotive historian Karl Ludvigsen blogs about ZORA’S MID-ENGINE XP-882 CORVETTE on CollierMedia. Decades before the C8 Corvette, Duntov had created multiple mid-engined Corvette prototypes. The XP-882 was the most developed and the most potential to have spawned a production mid-engined Corvette in the 1970s. It was not to be. In response to Ford’s “Total Performance” of the 1960s, Zora Duntov, right, and his team produced the XP-882, the most menacing mid-engined Corvette to date....

CONCEPT: CORVETTE XP-819

Posted on May 13, 2020 by MartynL

The story behind the radical CONCEPT: CORVETTE XP-819, from Concept build to concours restoration by Kevin Mackay’s Corvette Repair and then to its showing at the 2020 Amelia Island Concours where it was photographed, below, by CGC’s Mike Matune. Chevrolet has come a long way – actually 67 years - since Zora Arkus-Duntov built the first mid/rear-engine Corvette. That was in 1953 when #856 EX-54’s stock Six was removed and the body and chassis modified to handle installation of a prototype Cadet...

LT2 454: LIGHTWEIGHT CORVETTE

Posted on January 26, 2020January 27, 2020 by MartynL

We take a ‘deep dive’ into the original ZL1 & LT2 and recreated Long Lead Corvettes, Long Lead Press Previews, and reveal why proposed ZL1, LT2, LS6 and tri-power LJ2 super-high-performance big-block options for the ’70 Corvette never happened! Back in the day – the pre-historic, pre-Internet 1960s and 1970s – there were no bloggers, video influencers or e-zines. Enthusiasts relied on magazine editors and automotive journalists writing for print publications for the latest news from Motown. ...

’19 CORVETTE: MID-ENGINE STINGRAY!

Posted on August 1, 2017August 10, 2017 by MartynL

According to Michael Accardi at GM INSIDE NEWS, the myth is real and mid-engined Corvette production is slated for January 2019. Moving the Corvette’s motor to the middle has been an idea General Motors has hung onto ever since Zora Arkus-Duntov almost made it happen in 1960. His mad brilliance has left behind a long legacy of dreamy concepts both from his time at GM and after. Unfortunately, the idea was always dismissed as too expensive and boutique both for the company from an economics stan...

RAREST OF THE RARE: ‘57 CORVETTE SUPER SPORT!

Posted on February 28, 2017May 15, 2017 by MartynL

One of the rarest factory-built Corvettes ever built can be seen for the first time in 60 years at the Amelia Island Concours next month. The ‘57 Corvette Super Sport prototype originally built for GM's famous Motorama shows of the 1950s will, after six decades hidden from view, break cover in a special exhibit at the 22nd annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance on March 12, 2017. After its auto show duties, it was sold to Ralph Poole of Albuquerque, NM. The current owner, John Baldwin purch...