 |
| © Alexander Stoklosa - Car and Driver In an interview with Automotive News, Bob Lutz said that if he was still at General Motors he would develop a Corvette SUV, so we took a stab at imagining one. |
By Daniel Golson, Car and Driver
- In an interview with Automotive News, Bob Lutz gave his idea for a Corvette SUV, which is what he would produce if he were still at General Motors.
- Lutz, who was formerly vice chairman of General Motors, says it would need to be "the stellar premium sport-utility made in the United States."
- We thought it was a great idea, so we took a stab at imagining a Corvette SUV for ourselves.
In a recent interview with Automotive News,
iconoclastic auto-industry figure and former General Motors vice
chairman Bob Lutz was asked about a number of topics, including Carlos
Ghosn, Fiat Chrysler's desire for a merger, and the Trump administration. But the most intriguing tidbit came when Lutz was asked about the mid-engined C8 Corvette and brought up what he would do with the Corvette brand if he still worked at General Motors.
"[If I were still at GM], what I would do is develop a
dedicated architecture, super lightweight, super powerful, Porsche
Cayenne–like, only much better and a little bigger, medium-volume
Corvette SUV. Target worldwide 20,000 to 30,000 units, and price it
starting at $100,000. Gorgeous interior. No V-6 powertrain. No low-end
version. It has to be the stellar premium sport-utility made in the
United States, and the Corvette brand could pull that off."
Now, we don't have any reason to think that a Corvette SUV is
something that Chevy is even considering, and neither does Bob Lutz,
seemingly. But what he said got us thinking: What if Chevy actually did make
a Corvette SUV? It's not such a preposterous idea even if there's no
basis for it, and we also think it's a no-brainer for Chevy to expand
the Corvette brand beyond just the titular model.
Porsche was a pioneer of the super-sporty SUV with the Cayenne,
and since that model's inception, tons of high-end manufacturers have
all gotten into the fast-SUV game, tying in the models with their
existing sports cars. But Chevy, which has a history of both iconic SUVs
and iconic sports cars, has never even shown a concept imagining what a
sporty SUV from the bow-tie brand could look like. So we took a shot at
imagining it ourselves.
While we do like Lutz's idea of an
expensive Corvette SUV with no low-end version, we think it's a bit
unrealistic. To better compete with the Cayenne, an entry-level Corvette
SUV should have a starting price point of around $70,000 and a
twin-turbo V-6. But it would need at least a couple different V-8 engine
options, and there would have to be high-performance variants. Chevy
could easily position a Corvette SUV as the sportiest and most
road-oriented of all the high-end SUVs, which would set it apart from
the competition.
It would probably need to ride on its own unique platform, as GM
doesn't really have anything that would be a perfect match. The Alpha
platform that underpins the Camaro or the Omega platform that underpins the Cadillac CT6
could be possibilities, but neither are really fit for something that
would be as sporty and crossover-like as a Corvette SUV would be. Unless
Chevy would just say "screw it," not offer all-wheel drive or any
semblance of off-road ability, and build the SUV off the current front-engined C7 Corvette's platform.
The
styling should be aggressive and tie into the regular Corvette, which
would likely mean a coupe-like roofline and a low stance. The interior
would need to be luxurious, as buyers in this space expect more from
their cars than the middling materials and finishes of the current
Corvette. Seating for four adults and at least a modicum of cargo space
are a must-Corvette owners need to be able to carry golf clubs around,
after all-but it probably wouldn't have a targa top like the regular
Corvette.
The only thing left for us to imagine is the name. Would
it be Corvette Activ? Corvette Xtreme? Corvette TourX? Corvette Bison?
Corvette Trail Boss? Corvette High Country? Corvette Z71? Corvette Trans
Sport? GM has so many good off-road-y names to choose from.
And hey, there's precedent for us thinking this is a good idea. In 1976, we drove a C3 Corvette to Alaska, and then we re-created the journey in 2007 with a C6. Just imagine how much easier that would be with a Corvette SUV!
