Corvette: The March To Mid-Engine
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- The march to a mid-engine Corvette has been long in the making. I'm talking a good sixty years. And it's always the same story: a mid-engine Corvette is planned, it almost happens, and then it gets cut off at the knees for any number of reasons, both controllable and unmanageable. Racing bans, bankruptcies, internal opposition, engineering logistics and mechanical limitations. For as many times as the Corvette has almost been killed, only to be saved at the last moment, the inverse is true of the mid-engine variant: a dream nearly realized - but ultimately curtailed. But what changed?
Welcome to the conclusion of the RCR Stories Corvette Trilogy: The March To Mid-Engine.
Part 1: Harley Earl and the Birth of the Corvette: • Harley Earl and the Co...
Part 2: 1983: The Year Without A Corvette • Why was 1983 the year ...
Our C8 Corvette Review: • 2020 Chevrolet Corvett...
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Dick Balsey, the true hero of this story.
I laughed. Poor guy.
Lindsay Kimbrough How did he even make it out of grade school with a name like that?
It was the deep *sigh* before saying the name that gets me
Jason Buchko Rick, Rich, Richard. So many options. Was a ballsy choice to go with Dick, to say the least.
@@jastrauss26 Wonder if he knew John DeLorean's friend "Dick Brown"?
Time to make some coffee and get comfy with some RCR Stories!
Literally drinking my morning coffee to this, and saw your comment lmao
@@Litvagopnik Count me in.
An RCR stories upload is always worth the time. The current chief engineer mentioned two reasons for the mid-engine switch one is they need to appeal to a younger customer base and the other is they are reaching the performance limits of the front-engine rear-wheel-drive Corvette.
Listening to this at work gives some much needed relief, thanks again Roman; I love the RCR Stories & the way you calmly present them
4:24 - It's interesting how Delorean "didn't really get the XP-882," then gets wind that Ford, Mercedes, and AMC are all pursuing mid-engine designs, then in '72 the XP-895 gets the aluminum body. ANNND then in 1973, he leaves to form DMC. _ANNND then in 2020 I realize the Delorean had a stainless steel body, not aluminum_ .
More importantly, the DeLorean was supposed to use a mid-mounted Wankel engine, but they had to change plans when the company that was supposed to make the engines (Comotor) shut down.
24:31
Don't mind me, its just a bookmark.
Nice bookmark, Jason!
High IQ bookmark
I do the same.
A-list documentary from the Roman with no bias or agenda, just the desire to share knowledge and tell a story. Thank you for the incredible series!
The Aerovette, the '86 Corvette Indy and the CERV III concept look sick as hell.
Agreed 100%, and the one that stings the most that we did not get was the Aerovette.
I actually really like the Aerovette. That is sharp looking.
It's a shame the CERV III never made it to production. It could have been a world heater in the 90s.
I would love a cerv III
This was awesome. Thanks, guys!
Now I really want a Callaway C7 Aerowagon Corvette. I will never own one, but I sure want one...
Great job Roman! Loved all 3 parts.
i swear to god every time i see a new RCR stories video i just get filled with joy ❤️
Dick Balsey. 18:55 ⚰️
Yeah it’s never not been funny for all these years 🤣
Balsey name to go with...........I'll see myself out.
Might be the perfect way to begin my morning. Thank you.
Absolute legends! Always appreciate the effort you guys put into your videos
The only time I wished I had TH-cam Premium
TH-cam Vanced buddy. Google it! Its FREE! Dont forget microg so you can sign into your regular account.
If you're a student (or if you know someone/have a kid that's a student), it's only like 7 bucks a month. I recommend it
I wish I could let you use my account
I had 2020 Corvette , AMAZING CAR , had ZERO Problems, currently waiting on C8 ZO6
RCR STORIES gang. the only long form content worth finishing, thank you roman!
Sorry, the only long form content worth finishing?
"cars should be held to a higher standard" should be engraved over the doors of every ford factory. 100+ years stamping steel and they still can't get it right.
source: I have 2 Ford's (owned 3 in total).
I live in Phoenix, Arizona, and i was working in Northern Scottsdale when I saw the C8 Corvette for the first time. At first I thought it was another McLaren, but quickly realized that the front had the markings of a Corvette. I got so excited seeing that Chevy FINALLY made a vehicle that could compete AND look like a European sports car.
Looking forward to a future RCR book with all these stories inside!!
The Aero Vette looks so badass, like a muscle Delorean. The Indy Vette looks like the Jaguar XJ220, almost the same design.
15:18 dude.. It looks so much like the XJ220!!
Yeah it has the side of that and the front of a C6 Corvette/Dodge Stealth.
Great job (as usual) by the Roman and Mr. Regular.
Wow. Just what I need today.
Oh yes, an hour of corvette, this going to be good!
At least we finally got the mid engine Vette. I think it will be supplanted by some new, as yet designed all electric vehicle, but hopefully that day is still years away and we can just enjoy this while it lasts. Great story as always Roman! You really have a relaxing cadence to your storytelling.
I’ve just watched this series a second time; a year later. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you
thank you for these 60-to-61-minutes of great company and story telling
As always, the best stuff on TH-cam.
Not a Corvette fan by any means, but a world without a Vette is just not a world I wish to be in.
I’m coming to this late but ,,,,,, I never liked corvettes but this series on the corvette has been really fascinating. Great work Roman.
Well done! Thanks for this. RCR rocks.
Yesss thank you Roman! I appreciate the work you put into all this, I'm gonna be putting this on play while I do some work ^^ I hope you make more stories like these again soon!
said the shill
@@CobraCommanderX Fuck off
@@FranciscoFJM Dude even liked all his own comments on this vid lol
Wow, MR. REGULAR!!! This might be the definitive episode that shows TH-camrs that this is the best automotive reviews channel ever. KILKER DUDE!!!!!
Helen did a great job on the C8 interior!
you are one of the most serious reviewer ive ever seen, great job!!!
gonna fall asleep to this mans beautiful voice
The big news for 2020 was the C8 and the Supra and I love them both but sadly neither car is available in stick. Some say a stick my be offered in the 4cyl Supra time will tell .
I have a 2006 Z4 3.0si in manual and a bag of Toyota badges that i'll sell ya
At least the vette is a dual clutch and not some slushbox like the supra
I say count on the Supra getting a manual 4 cylinder. The C8 will never get one, I think, given its tailoring towards younger demographics wHo DiDn'T hAvE a dAd To ShOw ThEm HoW tO dRiVe StIcK. I know a few Japanese racers who would never let Toyota off the hook for not putting out a manual version.
Super-Kami Guru
Its a quandary to me some cars get duel clutch autos like a turbo Kia Soul and some high performance cars don’t it’s strange to me however the Supra’s automatic got good press but in the end it’s old technology
love English major car stories!!!
Out of all the unproduced mid-engine Corvette concepts and prototypes, the CERV III is my favorite. A production version of that could have been a world beater in the 90s, even if it would have been expensive. Weird that it had an automatic though.
The Corvette is American as apple pie, Colt 1911’s, and spitting moonshine in the face of a federal tax collector.
Rowdy little thing, and damn is she beautiful. I can’t wait to own a C8 someday. As much as I love my Toyota’s there is NOTHING like the Vette.
I’ve driven past that plant a hundred times, and I’ve always wondered if my future Vette is being built when I was longingly looking over at that building.
As a protest sign from 0:42 says:
IF SHE'S FROM BAYONNE
LEAVE HER ALONE
May god bless all woman from Bayonne and the rest of Northern Jersey
TIL, I was only familiar with its namesake in southern France.
@@SteelSkin667 being that they are from PA and talk alot about pa Im assuming they are talking Bayonne NJ. NJ has two parts, North and South. North is more like were I am from which is New York, and South is more like where they are from, PA. Ironically enough though Bayonne is literally right across the Hudson from NYC.
Oddly, Ford have never challenged GM's Corvette with an alternative. And given GM's problems to bring a mid-engined Corvette to market, Ford with all its experience and technological know-how from the Ford GT, never bothered.
iirc the thunderbird was intended to be fords answer but it evolved into a personal luxury car. And making a car for the category between sportscar and supercar has not made sense in decades for anyone but corvette(mercedes has had a few but they are in totally different categories in other ways)
They could always rebrand the Thunderbird back to its performance roots.
IF, it would make money.
I'd buy a car called , _The Thunderbird_
Great job Roman, you never disappoint
Corvette. Credibility. Corvette. Credibility...
Thanks for doing what you do.
I went ahead with my C8 order because I really wanted this car. But I’ll never buy another UAW built product again.
Having grown up in Detroit they have always been a bunch of crooks. I also still have images in my head of the news covering the strikers last year. As was the case even back in the 70'S so many if those workers would be lucky to get a job at Walmart or Micky dees but there they are whining about thier comfy pay an benifits.
KInd of a copout to say that they couldn't make a true manual happen because of cockpit space, when other manufacturers have been doing it for... ever.
"No car is universally loved" Uhhh excuse me? Have you SEEN the 2001 Mercedes Benz A160?? Let me know when you fix that line Roman. Huge mistake...
But I enjoyed the Corvette trilogy. Thanks for the great videos!
"Universally loved?"
*looks up A160*
Um, I'd recommend you _stay_ in that universe of yours.
@@danielseelye6005 Obviously a more advanced universe than you pal. Get with the times.
@@cambc9730 Can't, too rich for my blood. I'll just drive my '95 rusting Dakota until she falls apart.
It's a badge-engineered smart forfour!
If that's all it takes to make this list, I'll add not one but two Cadillacs: the Cimmaron and the XLR.
Toyota Corolla
Perfect timing. I downloaded the other one for my trip back from Cali right after it came out and I’m leaving Cali again tomorrow and this came out.
Just awesome bro. The whole series!!!👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾
I had a Corvette Indy Matchbox car as a kid. Back then I never knew what it was. But after I saw Back to the Future, it was my time machine any time I played with it.
Roman's voice goes up, Stress levels go down.
The Roman makes Insomnia interesting
RCR has actually made me a fan of the Corvette with their reviews of the C1-C8.
To me, they are all fantastic looking machines held back by the fact that GM didn't wanna spend money, only make it, so they cheaped out as much as possible sacrificing performance and quality.
Well, no, that's not all true. The C1, and C2 are beautiful. The C3 is super classic, with that serpentine, coke-bottle shape. They are the epitome of an elegant muscle car. Then the C4 and C5 look like graceless slabs. I know they perform better than the C3, but they have no style. The C6 start to get it on track again (although I recently clowned one in my Impala... that was painful to see happen, even as I was doing it... maybe it wasn't the car, but the guy driving it) and the C7s are a true North American Super Car.
Now we have the C8s... and I am very much in love with them, but waiting for them to work out all the kinks of the new design.
I'm so glad this had another installment, happy Labor Daybor baybeeee
This is much better than any scottys documentaries lol
If the front hatch tilted forward (like the hood on the Fiero) it would be less dangerous and easily recognized by the driver. Gotta love that 80’s technology!👍
I love the cat analogy!!!
I remember the push for for the rear engine Corvette back in 1964! again in the mid 1980's, after so many false starts I was thinking it would never happen!
Rcr stories: the rise of the mid engine corvette
Dude I love all those Twilight Zone references. Great job on the entire trilogy.
You guys don't make these often enough.
Awe yea, a Roman Special. Perfect commute music
Also good for enlivening working from home.
In GM, refine means cut costs.
thank you roman.
thank you.
Loving that Aerovette, but that Corvette Indy looks like a Jaguar XJ220 rip off, tour down to the wheels.
_Correction:_ the CERV III looks like a XJ220 rip off. Wasn't Jag owned by Ford at that time?
Thank you it was awesome!!!
Looks like i know what i'll be doing for the next hour
Very well done Roman. Appreciate the much more fact based approach in this video. Anyone complaining about the tone of Roman’s voice needs to give it just a minute or two and you’ll get completely used to it. You’ll also learn a lot in the process. Again nice job 👍🏻
Corvette is one of very few GM products I would buy with my own money. Any generation C5 and up is just outstanding performance for the money.
babe wake up new RCR story
The Camaro has gotten so good that the C7 Vette couldn't really outperform it minus styling. Now perhaps GM @ Camaro will really go after the Dodge Challenger now that the Vette has gotten faster and as everyone knows, GM despises attempts to make any car faster then the Vette inside GM. Its time to make the Camaro shine as the US's premier Front Engine Powered car in all ways, not just on the track.
My best friend has the newer model Camaro, and i am saying this for the first time ever. It finally looks meaner than its Mopar counterparts. It has an extremely evil look to it.
@@orion351us The Camaro is a helluva great car. If anything its too good for the power GM allows it to have. Unless you take it on a track, or watch it being driven 10/10ths you will just see it as being the 3rd place car in the pony car standings, and for what GM made, it could easily go faster if only the Vette got out of the way, which it finally did somewhat. So am looking forward to seeing what GM will allow the Camaro to be since the Vette got bumped up a bit.
@@twotone3471 I love the power, and did you know it beat the original Nissan GT-R's time around the Nurburgring? What has made the new Camaro stand out more than anything is its extremely aggressive stance. Mopar is wimpy as hell looking, compared to its glory days in the late 60s.
I wasn’t a Corvette guy but the C7 got me into one. With the C7 they finally made a decent interior to go along with tremendous performance and value the car always had. Styling wise the C3 is still the best looking version of the car with all those sexy curves. Not a huge fan of the C8 looks but like the non circular tail lights of the C7 as time moves on the C8s styling will become more normalized. The main thing with the C8 is by going mid-engine they have finally removed the last hurdle that European car buyers have claimed for years. Sadly the dealership experience is likely to put them off so GM will never fully win here. The hard top convertible however is a winner.
The CERV 3 sounds like another nissan r390, and looks like it, too!
Exquisite storytelling, as ever.📖👍🏻
Another masterpiece. But damn... things get weird around minute 44 😳 I didn’t realize some of the drama with the union executives
Great video
At this point, the mid engined Corvette is a Chevy supercar attempt, riding on the coattails of the Corvette name. Chevrolet could have called it something else, but they knew they’d be up shits creek if they tried to name it something else.
I think Roman is doing just fine.
Brian's voice is better suited to shorter narratives and dick jokes anyway.
Keep up the good work Roman.
Nick? Whatever.
12:20: Me in late 1979 when I realized that the Aerovette was vaporware, and we'd be faced with 160 hp auto trans only C3s.
Good work on the story!
ASMR car learning picture audiobook
Of all the mid engine Corvette prototypes that went nowhere I wish the CERV III made it to production.
God forbid the Corvette ends up like Mitsubishi Eclipse.
The NEXT hurdle for the Corvette will be to produce a EV_Corvette (C9, or C10) version. ???
Interesting side not. Chrysler executives had Corvette envy. In 1996 Dodge embarked on a side project to investigate the possibility of building a mid-engine Viper. Which became the stimulus for what would be the Ford GT in the mid-2000s. That’s right; Chrysler’s mid-engine Viper program was the basis for Ford’s 2006 GT...
Hi nice video I can wait to watch all of it
Seriously Roman? Seriously?? I am trying to get some work finally done this afternoon, and you need to release MORE great content? Will you let me work?
remember how pissed off Corvette owners were when they got rid of the pop-up headlights? Flash forward to the mid engine vet? Ha
Lost all respect for UAW when then negotiated that those currently in the union would keep getting paid their lofty wages, while brande new employees would start at a much, much lower wage. Theese are probably the same boomers that wonder why today's young people can't afford houses.
RCR , I noticed PA Stickers on cars, and when you drone highways it is reverse.
"Thanks for watching" no, no. I just listened.
I thought the random frunk opening was caused by accidentally hitting the key remote.
This and the other two videos are fantastic, but I must ask. In your research, did you come across the Bertone Nivola and its role in the march to a mid-engine corvette, and opt to exclude it from this video?
Very epic
IMHO, Kids who aren't old enough to drive but want a car like a Corvette want an electric sports car. The c8 is for older millennial gear heads. If the Corvette is going to survive to 100 years it's going to have to be the first American electric sports car.
You forgot to mention the Corvette Daytona Prototype. It debuted and was raced before the C8 and was mid engine.
Hood falling
MIDDLE TEXT
off moment
When did this channel get a guy who seems to know about cars???