Mid-engine Corvette to debut by 2019, report says

One of the most venerable and well-known nameplates in the automotive world looks set to get a major change in the next couple of years.

Citing multiple sources “familiar with the company’s planning,” the Detroit News reports that General Motors will build and sell a mid-engine Corvette by 2019.

The change in architecture would be the biggest for the Corvette since it was introduced in 1953 as a front-engine, rear-drive roadster with an in-line six-cylinder engine.

Today it still has the engine in the front, but now it’s a V8 with either 460 hp for the Stingray or 650 hp for the Z06.

The Vette is bought primarily by older buyers, however, and GM would like to open up its market to younger consumers, reports the Detroit News.

The newspaper said the midengine sports car is being pushed by GM’s head of product development, Mark Reuss.

In other clues of this huge change for the Corvette, General Motors announced in June a major retooling of its Bowling Green, Kentucky plant — where the Corvette is built exclusively — at a cost of US$290 million.

Last year, the company said it would build a new paint shop there for $439 million.

The change would be a cleansheet design for the car, and would position it against other manufacturers such as Porsche, Lamborghini and even GM’s cross-town rival, Ford, with its new GT.