An advanced design group for General Motors that was just established in the UK created this beautiful concept, Corvette. The Corvette concept combines a low-profile body with timeless design elements, such as a split rear windshield. This is one of three ideas for the Corvette that will be shown this year. The other two are GMC concepts from a company in the UK. The Chevrolet Corvette is an American icon, like bald eagles, baseball games in the middle of summer, and big Coke drinks from McDonald’s. But what if the famous sports car had been made in the UK instead of America? When General Motors opened its new advanced design center outside of Birmingham, England, it showed off a future Corvette design study made by a team in the UK. The new building in Royal Leamington Spa opens as General Motors gets ready to sell the Corvette in the UK and across Europe. Julian Thomson will be in charge of the studio. He worked on the first-generation Lotus Elise, the Land Rover LRX concept as a sneak peek at the Evoque and was in charge of Jaguar’s advanced design business until 2021. The advanced design team often thinks five to ten years ahead to see what new ideas will be available in the car industry in the future. The new 24,584-square-foot building will house more than 30 designers. To do this, the British team came up with a concept for a future Corvette. GM says that the designers are more concerned with making the Corvette look like it will in the next few decades than with making it. With its rakish, mid-engined shape, the design is clearly based on the Corvette’s period, but the front and back split windshields pay homage to the famous Corvette’s history. Downforce is created by air moving through underbody tubes through hollow intakes. The bodywork, which is beautifully split into a smooth white upper half and a black lower half, does not have flashy wings. GM made it sound like the idea is electric by saying that the battery is built into the car. Unique doors open like gull wings, and the body is made by additive manufacturing, which is another name for 3D printing. The ideal car is 183.8 inches long, which is about the same length as the modern C8 Corvette. But from top to bottom, it’s about eight inches shorter and about ten inches bigger. The simple interior has a rectangular driving wheel with a yoke shape and thin chairs built into the car’s frame. This is just the start of the idea for the Corvette. GM says this idea is part of a global design project that teams from all over the world will be working on together. As 2025 goes on, more Corvette versions will be added to the project. The company also showed a GMC idea made with the help of the Detroit-based GMC-specific team. This concept will be shown later this year. The GMC idea looks boxy because it has straight lines and a three-line pattern in the headlights and taillights.
