Corvette California reveals future brand design path

GENERAL MOTORS brand Chevrolet is amping-up its potential “transition” to electric Corvettes this week whipping the covers off the second of three electrified concepts due across 2025 to showcase future design and technology directions for the Corvette.

Called the Chevrolet Corvette California, the bowtie brand aptly chose GM’s Advanced Design studios in Pasadena, California to show its latest creation developed as part of a global design project.

No inkling as to a possible powertrain for the stunning looker was proffered by GM suffice to say a production version may run a three-engine electric drivetrain given its T-shape prismatic battery pack holder, lightweight carbon fibre “tub” and tunnelled underbody for cooling and aerodynamic benefits.

The concept features active aero spoiler and an air brake, rolls on 21-inch front wheels and 22-inch rears and measures 1051mm high by 2184mm wide by 4669mm long with a 2767mm wheelbase.

Chevrolet says this latest concept “reimagines the Corvette with a futuristic, Southern California twist and reflects GM’s deep roots in the SoCal design community”.

“Our Advanced Design teams are dedicated to shaping the future, driving innovation, and exploring what’s possible,” saidGM vice president of global design Bryan Nesbitt.

“The California Corvette concept is another example of forward-thinking design. We invited multiple GM studios to envision Corvette-inspired hypercars, the first of which was revealed by our UK studio in March. 

“The California team has now delivered a complementary study that honours Corvette’s legendary performance, while infusing it with their own distinctive vision.”

The low-slung sportscar is a development of the current series Corvette but introduces new concepts and styling that may flow through into production cars.

However, there is no production intent behind this design study, the Pasadena team embraced this project as a blank slate to reimagine what the Corvette could be leveraging Southern California trends which have been at the heart of US automotive and design culture for a century.

“GM (Chevrolet) has had a deep design presence here for nearly 40 years,” added GM Advanced Design Pasadena design director Brian Smith.

“We wanted to ensure that this concept was developed through that SoCal lens, but with a global and futuristic outlook. Duality of purpose is the basis of this concept’s design strategy.

“The defining design aspect is the single-piece, front-hinged canopy than enables the entire upper shell to be removed, transforming the concept from an agile, slick sports car to a lightweight, open-air track car.”

The one-off California Corvette concept blends racing-simulator inspiration with iconic Corvette cues complete with dramatic exterior proportions – wide at the wheels with a narrow, tapered cabin and a narrow cockpit – reflect classic Corvette DNA.

Access is via a dramatic single-piece front-hinged canopy that GM says transforms the vehicle from a sleek sports car to a lightweight, open-air track car “pushing the boundaries of what’s possible”.

The minimalist interior centres on the driver, with integrated structural elements and performance-focused displays. An augmented-reality HUD enhances high-speed driving with only the most essential data displayed.