The Corvette Museum in Kentucky has taken delivery of a new C8 Stingray. The car is a prototype used for powertrain development and will remain on display for the foreseeable future.
It was built in 2018 and used primarily at the Milford Proving Ground in Michigan to record data from the 6.2-litre LT2 V8 engine. To that end, it was kitted out with a variety of sensors to measure efficiency, emissions and performance.
While testing, it wore a good deal of camouflage, which has been stripped off for this display. What lies beneath is a patchwork Corvette, with a white bumper, white sills, black wheels, blackened ‘dummy’ lights and black bodywork.
Joining it will be a 40 percent-scale clay model of the new C8 from 2014. This was for aerodynamic testing, with ink drops used to demonstrate air flow.
The C8 is the most hotly-anticipated Corvette in the model’s near-70-year history. Neither development models will be far from base camp, given the National Corvette Museum is minutes from the Bowling Green production facility.
The mid-engined Corvette has, of course, been a long time coming. Corvette design and race legend Zora Arkus-Duntov campaigned for the engine to move amidships as early as the late 1950s.
