DETROIT AUTO SHOW: Will The All-New Chevrolet Corvette Have The SAME Effect As The R8 Had For Audi's Rebirth?

Easily the most talked about and watched product for the 2013 Detroit Auto Show is the all-new Chevrolet Corvette. You can't really blame the interested public either. This is America's halo car.

And if you were paying attention with the C6, it had supercar performance for a fraction of the price.

There has been plenty of things to like about the Corvette, but there was a list that was two times as long when you considered the things to hate. But now that General Motors is ushering in an all-new generation product, it has the capability to right the wrongs.

From what we've seen of the drawings and sketches -- pictured below -- we're pretty impressed. I have no problem saying that it looks like Chevrolet will be building the best 'Vette, ever.

But how will that play out for the buying public? Will this be the fresh injection that consumers have been looking for to flock to the General Motors portfolio of products?

Remember when Audi introduced the V8 R8? That truly was the turning point for the four rings. It ushered in a new era for the marque with LED-laden headlights and record-setting sales figures.

The only difference was that Audi had never produced such a halo car AND that it didn't have such a storied legacy to lose. For General Motors and Chevrolet, the hill is practically insurmountable at first glance.

Then again, if the product planners and engineers did thing right this go around with the C7, we could see history in the making today at approximately 7:00 p.m. EDT.


General Motors Co. on Sunday was expected to take the wraps off a new, seventh-generation Chevrolet Corvette sports car that it hopes will become the poster child for a 2013 product blitz designed to buff its top-selling Chevrolet line.

However, GM executives plan to use the 450-horsepower sports car more aggressively than ever to call attention to the rest of the Chevy lineup. GM is resurrecting the "Stingray" name for the new Corvette, reviving a name that hasn't been used since the 1970s, when the 50-something baby boomers who are the target buyers for the new Corvette were in their impressionable teens.

lexusrox123 - 1/13/2013 1:04:06 PM

+3 Boost

The Viper wants its front end back.

PUGPROUD - 1/13/2013 1:18:50 PM

+2 Boost

No. As the song goes "there is nothing like the first time !" The R8 was Audi's first sports car and the leading edge of a substantial investment push by Audi. Neither is the case for GM.

mclaren428 - 1/13/2013 1:44:35 PM

+2 Boost

Never ceases to amaze me how Autospies can integrate Audi into almost any article haha. The corvette represents the best sports car under the GM brand, and it appears this version will be a world class sports car. The R8 is not even VW's best, just look to Porsche.

Agent00R - 1/14/2013 8:57:55 AM

+1 Boost

Funny.

The two cars that Chevrolet's press release specifically benchmarked were the Porsche 911 and Audi R8.

Seems like we were onto something even before we read the release...

PLAY - 1/13/2013 1:49:56 PM

+2 Boost

We will have to see if it can go around corners or not.

Agent00R - 1/14/2013 8:56:21 AM

+1 Boost

Considering the C6 did, I am sure this will only get better.

1CarSmart1 - 1/14/2013 7:03:08 AM

-2 Boost

What a joke. I would use the corovette as a toilet, then burn the whole thing.

Stewie - 1/14/2013 10:02:26 AM

+2 Boost

I don't really think it will make such a big difference. It will be the same as any previous Corvette, a great success. We expect the new Corvette to be much better than the last and I don't think that many were disappointed. Hopefully the build quality will match the MSRP this time around.

1CarSmart1 - 1/14/2013 11:02:30 AM

-2 Boost

Corvette is named after a war plane. Boo violence!

theman440 - 1/14/2013 11:32:57 PM

+2 Boost

NO