Chevrolet Corvette News

The iconic Chevrolet Corvette sports car is heading for Holden showrooms to become the brand’s hero car once manufacturing comes to an end in 2017.The boss of General Motors’ international division, Stefan Jacoby -- the man who in December 2013 made the tough call to close the Elizabeth assembly line -- told Australian media in Detroit that Holden will have a "halo model" after the V8 Commodore dies.Mr Jacoby stopped short of confirming which car it will be, but there are only two V8 performance vehicles in the GM line-up that could possibly fit: the new Chevrolet Camaro or the next version of the Corvette.RELATED: How we broke the Corvette story two years agoHowever the Corvette is tipped to be the favourite given that the new Camaro has not been developed for right-hand-drive, whereas the timing of the Corvette’s model change over works in Australia’s favour. The other option, the Cadillac V8, will not fit a steering wheel on the right-hand-side of the car because the engine is such a tight fit.“We will bring a true sports car to Australia for the brand Holden,” said Mr Jacoby. “It will be something which fulfills the requirement of a true Holden sports car.”Beyond that, Mr Jacoby was coy about giving any further details other than it will be a V8 and arrive in 2018.This means that although V8 versions of the homegrown Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore may be reaching the end of the road forever, both will be replaced by iconic US muscle cars.Ford is due to release the Mustang at the end of this year priced from $50,000 while the Corvette is not due in Australia showrooms until 2018, the year after the Holden factory closes in Elizabeth.There is one catch however. The flagship version of the Corvette will likely have a price close to $100,000 -- the same as a current HSV GTS sedan -- by the time exchange rates and shipping costs are taken into account.Nevertheless, the news will be a relief to rev heads because Holden was facing a future without a V8.The next Commodore is a front-wheel-drive fleet sedan from Germany with a choice of four-cylinder or V6 power -- just like the Toyota Camry.At the unveiling of the current Chevrolet Corvette in Detroit in January 2013, the then boss of General Motors Dan Akerson told News Corp Australia the sports-car would be made in right-hand-drive and would be coming to Australia “soon”.But less than 24 hours later his second-in-command Tim Lee, at the time the head of GM’s international operations, said: “I have no idea what said but we have no plan to put a right-hand-drive under that bonnet. The Corvette is a Chevrolet, it’s not a Holden, it never will be, next question.”When Mr Lee was asked how two senior executives with intimate knowledge of the company could make such a faux-pas about the Corvette, Mr Lee said: “I recognise what my boss said, I recognise what said, I am telling you as the operating guy in charge there is no plan. I respect my boss, I love my boss. But I think he was giving you an exhortation.”When pressed again on how such a senior colleague could get such key facts wrong during a media presentation, Mr Lee said during a roundtable interview: “We can spend the entire 20 minutes talking about this. This is a non-story from my point of view. You can write what you want to write, I really don’t give a shit. But it is not in the mainstream plan.”Mr Lee then repeated his earlier comments: “Currently there is no engineering execution, there is no plan. If the CEO said tomorrow that he wants us to do that it would take us years. Don’t go back and sell that story.”At the Corvette unveiling, when asked if the new model would be made in right-hand drive, the boss of General Motors Dan Akerson told News Corp Australia “yes”. When asked when, he replied “soon”.The chief engineer of the new Corvette, Tadje Juechter, then said: “We want the Corvette to come to Australia. I get letters from Australia all the time. Our primary competition sells left- and right-hand-drive, so that’s what we want to do. Our plan is to make this a truly global car.“But I would say timetable is a little faster than what you’re probably thinking. It’ll be years away .”

US magazine Car And Driver has landed what will likely go down as the scoop of the year -- just eight days into 2015.The magazine’s spy photographer Chris Doane has caught on camera what appears to be a mid-engined Corvette test mule wearing a Holden Commodore ute body as a disguise.Car And Driver does not say how or where the photos were taken but it appears to be from a drone inside a General Motors test track given the height the shots were taken, and the fact that there are no licence plates on the vehicle.The magazine says it captured 82 seconds worth of images before the engineers testing the vehicle covered it up.The magazine is adamant this is a pointer to the next generation 2017 Corvette, said to be a mid-engined design, with the engine mounted behind the seats (like a Ferrari or Lamborghini) rather than under the bonnet as it is currently.The contraption could also be a flagship model to sit above the Corvette, to rival the Ford GT supercar which is rumoured to break cover at next week’s Detroit motor show.Whatever it is, we just hope that General Motors stands by its promise to make all future cars available in right-hand-drive -- and then put it on a ship to Australia.Whatever it is, we just hope that General Motors stands by its promise to make all future cars available in right-hand-drive -- and then put it on a ship to Australia.At the Detroit show two years ago the then boss of the company Dan Akerson told News Corp Australia, in the media scrum after the latest model was unveiled, that the 2015 Corvette would be coming to Australia “soon”.But less than 24 hours later, his next in command, Tim Lee, said that was not true and the Corvette was not coming to Australia.Mr Lee told Australian reporters at the Detroit motor show the next day: “I have no idea what said but we have no plan to put a right-hand-drive under that bonnet. The Corvette is a Chevrolet, it’s not a Holden, it never will be, next question."When Mr Lee was asked how two senior executives with intimate knowledge of the company could make such a faux-pas, he said: “I recognise what my boss said, I recognise what said, I am telling you as the operating guy in charge there is no plan. I respect my boss, I love my boss. But I think he was giving you an exhortation.”When pressed again on how two of his senior colleagues could get such key facts wrong during a media interview, he said during the roundtable discussion: “We can spend the entire 20 minutes talking about this. This is a non-story from my point of view. You can write what you want to write, I really don’t give a shit. But it is not in the mainstream plan.”Mr Lee then repeated his earlier comments: “Currently there is no engineering execution, there is no plan. If the CEO said tomorrow that he wants us to do that it would take us years. Don’t go back and sell that story.”Here’s hoping this mid-engined monster, whatever it is, stands a better chance of coming to Australia. With or without the Holden Commodore ute body.Read the full story at Car And Driver

You don't get much idea of the storyline from the teaser footage -- despite it being a long-ish 2.5 minutes -- but there's enough of a taste to let you know what's in store when the film is released in June.The action kicks off with Optimus Prime in a very sorry semi-truck state being hauled to a barn, where a probe into the vehicle's materials, and some jolts of power, reawaken the transformer mode. At that stage, he looks in severe need of a wash and wax as well.However, a bit of barn-busting action when the men in sunglasses turn up to take him proves he's been restored to ...erm, prime condition.Other cars appear in the trailer, including the black and orange Chevrolet Camaro SS (Bumblebee) transforming in a museum and later out and about but in four-wheeled form. And there are also some fuzzy cameos from a green Corvette Stingray we think will be the autobot Crosshairs, what looks to be an Audi R8, and another SS -- concept matt black with orange trim that seems to be a later incarnation of Bumblebee. This fourth in the Transformers franchise stars Mark Wahlberg as struggling inventor -- and autobot reviver -- Cade Yeager, and the continuing voice of Peter Cullen, the original and still only tones for Optimus Prime from the 1980s TV series through all four movies.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincottWatch the car bot action of the new trailer on our desktop site. 

The New York motor show in April will see the announcement of which vehicle has won the 2014 World COTY, and there looks to be a tough -- and very varied -- field of finalists.Last year's winner was the Volkswagen Golf, which also took awards in pretty well every country on the globe. But this year it could be anything from the little electric BMW i3 to the offroading Jeep Cherokee and even the Citroen C4 peoplemover, judging by the shortlist.A panel of 69 motoring experts from around the world -- including Carsguide's Paul Gover and National Motoring Editor Joshua Dowling -- will choose the winner from: Audi A3, BMW 4 Series, BMW i3, Cadillac CTS, Citroen C4 Picasso, Ford Fusion/Mondeo, Infiniti Q50, Jeep Cherokee, Lexus IS, Mazda3, Peugeot 308 and Skoda Octavia.The 10 finalists for the 2014 World Luxury Car are the Bentley Flying Spur, BMW X5, Cadillac ELR, Cadillac Escalade, Maserati Ghibli, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Porsche Macan, Range Rover Sport and Rolls-Royce Wraith.Due to a tie, there are 11 finalists for the 2014 World Performance Car: Alfa Romeo 4C, Audi RS 6 Avant, BMW M6 Gran Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Ferrari 458 Speciale, Ford Fiesta ST, Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster, Mercedes-Benz A/CLA45 AMG, Porsche 911 GT3, Porsche 911 Turbo and Volkswagen Golf GTI.A separate panel of five 'green' experts will choose the 2014 World Green Car from Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (+ Audi e-gas), BMW i3, Honda Accord Hybrid, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Volkswagen XL1.Similarly, a panel of five design experts will decide on the 2014 World Car Design of the Year, from among: BMW i3, Cadillac CTS, Citroen C4 Picasso, Mazda3, Lexus IS, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Volkswagen XL1.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

A massive sinkhole six metres deep has collapsed part of the National Corvette Museum in the US state of Kentucky, claiming eight cars -- two of which were on loan from Corvette parent company General Motors.The loaned cars are a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil, while the other six owned by the museum are a 1962 Corvette, 1984 PPG Pace Car Corvette, 1992 Corvette (the 1,000,000th one built), 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette, 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette and 2009 Corvette(1,500,000th one built).   Museum spokeswoman Katie Frassinelli said no one was in the museum when the sinkhole opened -- estimated to be about 5.40am yesterday, when alarms were set off. The damage is in the original domed part of the museum, which was built in Bowling Green in 1994.Bowling Green is also home to the sole facility in which GM builds the Corvette. The region is in the middle of Kentucky's largest area for karst -- a geological formation in which layers of soluble bedrock such as limestone can dissolve, leaving huge underground caves.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott

We all know the Middle East has a healthy abundance of big-dollar luxury and supercars, but this video juxtaposes the typical ‘bunch of hoons hanging in a carpark' situation with exotica from Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Rolls Royce.This Ken Block-wannabe Ferrari 599 driver clearly has the budget of Block, but the skill level of a P-plater in a Gemini in the mall carpark after Coles shuts, as he slides precariously past a Ferrari 458, a pair of Californias, a Porsche 911 Cabriolet, a drop-top Aston and a Rolls-Royce Ghost - and a relatively pedestrian C7 Corvette.However unlike many Hagwalah drift videos, the gathering survives the clip unscathed, so perhaps the graduation from the usual Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord fare is just the ticket to successful Middle Eastern drifting.Watch the Ferrari drifting around other exotics video on our desktop site. This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

A fleet of 50 Corvette Stingrays formed an escort convoy for the Z06, the “big nasty” track version of the General Motors prize-winning sportscar, in an echo of the glory days of the Detroit motor show. Helicopter footage of the convoy, which started 30km away at GM's technical centre in Warren, was beamed to a screen in the shape of Chevrolet's bow-tie badge to a huge waiting crowd at the Cobo centre in downtown Detroit.Just a few hours earlier, the Corvette had given GM a clean sweep of the North American vehicle awards after the Chevrolet Silverado pick-up was named Truck of the Year. “I can't tell you how honoured we are to win both car and truck of the year,” GM product chief Mark Reuss told the crowd as the Z06 arrived on stage. He said the Z06, which packs a supercharged 6.2-litre V8 under the bonnet and has already blitzed GM's test track record, was the “big nasty” and “the most amazing Corvette we've ever built”. “It's a world class supercar to rival any exotic,” he said. Traditional sportscars that press enthusiasts' buttons took Detroit motor show by storm on the opening day, with Asian brands joining the party. Toyota sprang one of the show's few surprises with the FT1, a design study for a “sexy halo sportscar” that was first developed in virtual reality as part of the Gran Turismo computer racing game.The idea came from Toyota's California design studio and it won over company boss Akio Toyoda, who drives race-cars in his spare time and is on a mission to put excitement into the brand. The FT1 has yet to be approved for production but wowed the Detroit crowd with its curvaceous surfaces, “slingshot” cockpit and visible -- but unspecified -- internal combustion engine.Studio chief Alex Shun said it had been a two-year “labour of love” that revived Toyota's heritage of producing sportscars, such as the Supra. Pure driving pleasure was also the target at Kia with its GT4 Stinger, a front-engine, rear-drive, 2+2 designed as a tribute to “traditional sportscar values”.Its six designers, all dressed in black suits and ties in the manner of characters from the film Reservoir Dogs, played to the stand's movie theme after Hollywood trivia questions had amused the waiting crowd.Porsche was another to win over the cynical motor show audience with its 911 Targa and a “world first” folding roof system.The entire rear panel and domed glass lift up and back to give the roof panels room to fold behind the cabin. Porsche chief Matthias Mueller said the Targa version of the 911 dated back to 1965 and the latest edition harked back to styling elements of the original.Most luxury brands, including Porsche, boasted record sales in 2013 and expect a repeat this year. BMW remains the luxury leader with 1.65 million buyers last year and it made a double pitch for the enthusiast dollar with two models from its M performance division. The M3 sedan and M4 adopt a turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine instead of the previous V8 but have more power, at 317kW, and are 25 per cent more fuel efficient.   

Chevrolet has a new high-performance hero: the next generation Corvette Z06 has an all-new direct-injection supercharged V8 with a mind-boggling 625 horsepower or 466kW, and the option of a seven-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic transmission.Significantly, the new Z06 has more torque than the previous king of the Corvettes, the ZR1 (also powered by a supercharged 6.2-litre V8, but an older design), which was the fastest Corvette of all time when launched in 2009.Torque is the measure of an engine’s ability to overcome resistance. For the tech heads these numbers mean pure magic: the new Z06 has 861 Nm versus 819Nm for the ZR1.Chevrolet is yet to publish performance times for the new Z06 but the previous ZR1 can reach the speed limit in a Ferrari-like 3.1 seconds and has a top speed of 330km/h.The only clue the company will give about performance is to say that the new Z06 laps faster than the previous ZR1. And to think the next generation ZR1 is still to be developed...Australian performance-car fans waiting for the new Z06’s epic engine -- an all-new direct injection supercharged 6.2-litre V8 called the LT4 -- to arrive under the bonnet of a Holden Special Vehicles GTS will be waiting in vain.Although previous Corvette and Camaro engines have found their way in HSV cars -- including the awesome LSA supercharged 6.2-litre V8 used in the GTS, Australia’s fastest and most powerful car of all time -- Carsguide understands there are no plans to fit the new LT4 to the Commodore.The cost to develop and adapt the LT4 for the Commodore would be too expensive at this stage of the car’s lifecycle, especially as it is due to end production in 2017, say GM insiders.Australians will just have to admire from afar, unless former Holden boss Mark Reuss gets his wish for all GM models to be available in right-hand-drive in future.Mr Reuss, who is now in charge of all global vehicles at General Motors, told Australian media at the Detroit motor show: “On all our products going forward we’re going to try and do right-hand-drive.”Mr Reuss would not speculate which cars in the Chevrolet line-up would make it to Australia, but vehicles that are built in left-hand-drive only for now include the iconic Camaro and Corvette sports cars, and the range of Chevrolet full-size pick-ups and SUVs.At last year’s Detroit motor show, the then boss of General Motors, Dan Akerson, told Carsguide the new Corvette would be made in right-hand-drive for the first time in 50 years.But less than 24 hours later the company made a U-turn on the comments, with GM’s second-in-charge Tim Lee telling News Corp Australia:“I have no idea what said but we have no plan to put a right-hand-drive under that bonnet. The Corvette is a Chevrolet, it’s not a Holden, it never will be, next question.”When pressed on how the boss of the company could get such a key fact wrong during a media presentation, Mr Lee said: “We can spend the entire 20 minutes talking about this. This is a non-story from my point of view. You can write what you want to write, I really don’t give a shit. But it is not in the mainstream plan.”In the meantime, GM is understandably proud of its new Ferrari-challenger. “The new Z06 delivers levels of performance, technology and design that rival the most exotisupercars in the world,” Mr Reuss said in a media statement.“The Z06 leverages the engineering expertise of GM, offering the choice of two world-class transmissions (and) supercar performance without supercar fuel consumption.”Corvette Z06: fast factsPrice: $US80,000 (estimated)Engine: Supercharged 6.2-litre direct injection V8 (LT4)Power: 466kW and 861Nm (compared to 476kW and 819Nm in the ZR1)Transmission: Seven-speed manual, eight-speed automatic.On sale: Late 2015 (US only)

Some of the biggest names in motoring have been renewed at this year's Detroit motor show.

But as the motor capital of the world gears up for the first international car show of the year, the big US brands have their feet on the gas pedal.Buoyed by the best sales in six years -- after 15.6 million new vehicle deliveries in 2013 -- Detroit is back in the fast lane in more ways than one, even if it still trails China as the world’s biggest car market (a title it snatched from the US in 2010).Over the coming days Detroit is poised to unveil more muscle cars, a high-powered version of the Corvette and an all-new Ford F-150; the nation’s top-selling vehicle for 32 years and the most popular “pick-up” for 37 years in a row.If it sounds like North America is yet to join the real world by unveiling such automotive excess, think again.The new Ford F-150 is said to have a lightweight aluminium body, the first such change in the 111-year history of the Ford Motor Company, which is tipped to deliver massive fuel economy savings.And the new high-powered Corvette sports-car from Chevrolet is said to have a new generation super-efficient V8 engine, even if it’s still supercharged.Nevertheless, when the doors to Cobo Hall open Monday local time for the 2014 Detroit motor show (about 1am AEST Tuesday) the industry will be putting on a brave face.The city known as Motown is a shadow of its former self, with only two factories remaining, down from more than two dozen of two decades ago.The population of Detroit is down by more than half, from 1.8 million in 1950 to just over 700,000 today. Unemployment is close to 20 per cent and, last year, Detroit was the largest municipality in US history to go bankrupt.The murder rate is currently 10 times higher than New York City and 70 per cent of murders remain unsolved.Most car factories have shifted to other US states, which have offered incentives for green-field sites established by foreign brands. The Big Three -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- regard them as the enemy from within.Of the 39 car factories in North America, just two are in Detroit and only seven are in its home state of Michigan.Having agreed to more flexible contracts with its workers, with support from the states they're based in, the foreign brands have developed an upper hand by setting up elsewhere across the US.Last year, the Big Three brands built about 7 million vehicles on home soil; foreign brands built more than 5 million vehicles, leaving only about 3 million vehicles imported.Which is why there won’t necessarily be Armageddon when Ford, Holden and (probably) Toyota close their Australian factories.Last year, Australian vehicle production fell to its lowest levels since 1958; it now represents such a small part of the market, the adjustment to the new world order has, largely, already happened.The populations of South Australia and Victoria are still growing, and unemployment is below 6 per cent, not as high as 20 per cent like it is in Detroit. Even if every Ford, Holden and Toyota worker did not find another job, the unemployment rate would rise by about 0.9 per cent.But a study by the University of Adelaide last year found that more than two-thirds of Australia’s displaced automotive manufacturing workers will find new employment quickly.Often overlooked is the fact that, since 2004, Holden alone has let go more than 5000 factory workers; currently there are only 5300 employees on the workshop floors at Ford, Holden and Toyota combined. And Australia appears to have survived the impact so far.Many auto workers have ended up in other related industries, such as aircraft component manufacturing. US giant Boeing employs 1500 workers near Melbourne to make hi-tech wing components for the new 787 Dreamliner, for example, so highly regarded is our expertise.Meanwhile, the closure of Holden’s factory looks set to open up new opportunities for imported models now that, as insiders put it, “we don’t have to put a ring fence around the locally-made models”. That means, hopefully, Australians will have an even bigger selection of new cars from which to choose.So while there will be much sadness about the passing of Australia’s automotive manufacturing capability, and the livelihoods it will affect, the reality is it will, ultimately, provide an opportunity to reinvent ourselves. It’s the unwelcome jolt we had to have.Manufacturers in other countries continue to receive substantial taxpayer support -- but they have much bigger car markets to sell into. Australia happens to be stuck in a corner of the world surrounded by countries with cheaper labour. No amount of government money could compete with that. Game over.