GM Rollsout Centennial Corvette Concept at Chicago

[Z-06]

Linkity

CHICAGO 2009

CHEVROLET CORVETTE CENTENNIAL CONCEPT

AUTOBOTS® WITH BOW TIES: CHEVROLET-BASED CHARACTERS STARRING IN 'TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN' AT THE CHICAGO AUTO SHOW

Giant movie robot also on display with vehicles used in the upcoming blockbuster summer film

CHICAGO – Visitors to the Chevrolet display at this year's Chicago Auto Show (Friday through Feb. 22) will be treated to an out-of-this-world vehicle display – the automotive stars from the upcoming DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures release, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

Five Chevrolet-based characters – including four all-new characters – are featured in the new film set to open in the United States on June 26. All of them are at the Chevrolet display. The four new movie characters include:

* SIDESWIPE – a stylized Corvette vision concept vehicle

* SKIDS and MUDFLAP – twin AUTOBOTS® based on Chevy's Beat (a concept that will go into production as the Chevy Spark in 2011) and Trax concepts

* JOLT – an AUTOBOT-based on Chevy's upcoming Volt extended-range electric vehicle

BUMBLEBEE™, the heroic AUTOBOT based on Chevrolet's Camaro concept from the first "Transformers" movie, returns with a high-performance attitude. Joining the vehicles on stage will be BUMBLEBEE in his AUTOBOT form, standing almost 17 feet (5.2 meters) tall and 13 feet (4 meters) wide.

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"Chevrolet is thrilled to again be part of one of the most anticipated movies in years," said Ed Peper, GM North America vice president, Chevrolet. "'Transformers' gives us a great opportunity to connect with young people on their terms, with a dynamic, environmentally friendly image. The new characters represent the change going on in Chevy showrooms. From the exciting Camaro, the 21st century sports car, to the game-changing Volt, there's more than meets the eye at Chevrolet today."

Directed by Michael Bay, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" sees the AUTOBOTS confront a new threat from DECEPTICONS® bent on avenging their earlier defeat on Earth. The new AUTOBOT characters in their current Chevy-based form square off against new, tougher foes determined to rule the universe.

"'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' goes way beyond the first film in terms of robot action and excitement," said LeeAnne Stables, executive vice president of worldwide marketing partnerships at Paramount Pictures, the distributor of the film. "The new AUTOBOTS add to the storytelling, and these Chevy vehicles went with our filmmakers to locations all around the world. GM has again provided incredible support to the production team working on the movie."

Along with the Camaro that's reprising its role in the new film, the other Chevy models to be seen on the big screen are new to movie-goers.

SIDESWIPE takes the form of a sleek, vision concept dreamed up by the Corvette designers at GM. The design is influenced by the original Stingray race car, introduced in 1959, but also draws on Corvette heritage cues from other generations. It brings them together in a futuristic shape that seems to be equal parts racecar and space ship.

"SIDESWIPE represents an exercise in exploration for the Corvette," said Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design. "By giving my creative team the freedom to design no-holds-barred vision concepts, it helps them push boundaries and look at projects from different perspectives."

The Beat and Trax-based characters, SKIDS and MUDFLAP, remain faithful to their concept designs introduced at the 2007 New York Auto Show – although each wears new paint and other exterior accessories. And while they may be small cars, when they turn into fighting AUTOBOTS®, they pack a big punch.

The other new AUTOBOT, JOLT, appears in the production form of Chevy's 2011 Volt extended-range electric vehicle. With the capability of up to 40 miles (64 km) of pure electric propulsion, plus hundreds of more miles with the assistance from its Voltec powertrain system, the real-life Volt will change driving in America.

Of course, the AUTOBOT team isn't complete without BUMBLEBEE, the yellow Camaro based on the new, 2010 production model. Sporting new wheels and SS-model performance cues, BUMBLEBEE is more stylish and powerful than ever – and enthusiasts will be able to drive their own new Camaro when it goes on sale this spring. For more exclusive AUTOBOT movie information relating to Chevrolet, please visit www.autobotsrollout.com.

Chevrolet is one of America's best-known and best-selling automotive brands. With the largest dealer network in the United States, Chevy is the leader in full-size trucks and the leader in sales of vehicles priced $35,000 and above. Chevrolet delivers more-than-expected value in every vehicle category, offering cars and trucks priced from $12,120 to $103,300. Chevy delivers expressive design, spirited performance and great value with standard features usually found only on more expensive vehicles. More information on Chevrolet can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures present, in association with Hasbro, a di Bonaventura Pictures production, a Tom DeSanto/Don Murphy Production, a Michael Bay film, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, John Benjamin Hickey, Ramon Rodriguez, Isabel Lucas, Glenn Morshower and John Turturro. The film is directed by Michael Bay and written by Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is based on Hasbro's TRANSFORMERS™ action figures and is produced by Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. Executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. This film has not yet been rated.

TRANSFORMERS is a brand of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS). Hasbro is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time products and services with a rich portfolio of brands and entertainment properties that provides some of the highest quality and most recognizable play and recreational experiences in the world. As a brand-driven, consumer-focused global company, Hasbro brings to market a range of toys, games and licensed products, from traditional to high-tech and digital, under such powerful brand names as TRANSFORMERS, PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, CRANIUM and WIZARDS OF THE COAST. Come see how we inspire play through our brands at http://www.hasbro.com.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

SWEET!!!!!

I'd buy the hell out of that!

[deftonesfan867]

For the love of god GM!!!! Make this, even if it's in limited production numbers.

[Sixty8panther]

I think I just pissed myself when I saw the rear-over-head

shot of the Split-window & the car's coke-bottle footprint.

If there's one modern (like past 30 years) concept car that

is even close to the 2003 Cadillac Sixteen THIS is it. I think

I'm going to take a cold shower now so I can try to snap

out of it and then wipe the drool off my keyboard!

[balthazar]

Not sure I can embrace the '66 Pontiac-esque RR fender contours here, but overall it's pure sex.

Also- took long enough for an automotive emblem to surpass the Viper's in coolness, tho that was not an easy task...

[PurdueGuy]

I guess I'll have to be different & say... it's very cool, but I'm not finding it drool-worthy. The grill (which makes me think of the pronto spyder) looks kinda cheap, the fender flares seem just too big, the huge quad exhaust seems silly, and some other proportions just aren't doing it for me. Don't get me wrong, it's still cool, but I could probably find a dozen concepts & production cars of the last 10 years that get me a lot more excited.

[Oracle of Delphi]

It would make a nice 40th birthday present for me, I'll take in in either yellow or purple please ...

[Intrepidation]

I have mixed feeling about it. From most angles it looks really cool...but for some reason I don't like the way it looks from the front 3/4 angle.

[Northstar]

It would make a nice 40th birthday present for me, I'll take in in either yellow or purple please ...

But it's RWD and V8. It's against your alliances to buy a car with said drivetrain.

[Oracle of Delphi]

But it's RWD and V8. It's against your alliances to buy a car with said drivetrain.

Why is that? I own one now, and have owned it for many years, it's older than you are ...

Edited February 12, 2009 by Pontiac Custom-S

[ocnblu]

I have no words to express the immense pride I feel when GM Design produces a car that matches the mastery they expressed so many times in the 1960s. This car is simply magnificent. This is the kind of design that makes people WANT a GM car in the worst way.

[!!!TED!!!]

Its great, if you understand Corvette design language.

Heres Ed Welburn talking about it:

It looks really good moving too:

[the_yellow_dart]

Wow. Am I the only one here who thinks this is way overdone?

Looks like something Mr Detroit Metal would chop, then everyone would be down his throat to take out this line and that because it's too busy.

[enzl]

Wow. Am I the only one here who thinks this is way overdone?

Looks like something Mr Detroit Metal would chop, then everyone would be down his throat to take out this line and that because it's too busy.

I agree.

I believe a 'production' version, toned down slightly, would be much more handsome. There's something amiss with the total design, although I can appreciate what they were going for...

[SingleStylish]

The most notible addition to this design exercise is that it appears Chevy is looking to do away with the Velveta cheese block rear end present since the C5. Top Gear wouldn't be able to rip it for being flimsy either.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

It would make a nice 40th birthday present for me, I'll take in in either yellow or purple please ...

How 'bout yellow and purple?

Like this:

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I have no words to express the immense pride I feel when GM Design produces a car that matches the mastery they expressed so many times in the 1960s. This car is simply magnificent. This is the kind of design that makes people WANT a GM car in the worst way.

Absolutely.

If they could distill this mojo into every car they make, they'd change the world.

I had a friend tell me last night that he isn't a car guy because he doesn't understand why cars are no longer objects of design like they were in the 50s and 60s.

[RBB]

Beautiful concept, but my favorite part is this:

-RBB

[Sixty8panther]

I say:

If ever quad exhaust tips DID NOT "look silly" it's here.

This thing is, as O.B. said, one of a few recent concept

cars, worthy of being a great-grand child of THIS:

PCS prob. WOULD buy a '98 pace car.

Edited February 12, 2009 by Sixty8panther

[§carlet §wordfish]

I don't really care for the headlights and the grille... but the rest of the car is just golden. Reminds me a bit of the Aston One-77, but sleeker and lighter looking.

[Croc]

Wow. Am I the only one here who thinks this is way overdone?

Looks like something Mr Detroit Metal would chop, then everyone would be down his throat to take out this line and that because it's too busy.

Agreed. If this is a sign of what's to come with the next Vette, I think GM has f@#ked it up.

[Oracle of Delphi]

PCS prob. WOULD buy a '98 pace car.

Buying old crap is your forte, not mine ...

[Chazman]

I saw it today. Didn't like it one bit.

[Sixty8panther]

Buying old crap is your forte, not mine ...

Everything will be OLD someday.... but not everything OLD is CRAP.

i.e. W-bodys were flawed misguided Turdboxes right

from their birth in the mid 1980s. But a 1959 Pontiac

Bonneville, whether brand new, slightly used, rental

car, company car, museum quality classic, survivor,

beater, or even just a neglected relic in someone's

side yard, buried in the weeds, is still a million times

more desirable to me than a brandy-new W-body

Pontiac. 50 years from now, your Grand Prix will just

be another mistake by GM, while many of the "old,

crappy" cars I buy/drive/sell will be priceless.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

For some reason it reminds me a lot of the "black car" concept for the C5.

(The precursor to the Sting Ray III)

[Sixty8panther]

[Oracle of Delphi]

Everything will be OLD someday.... but not everything OLD is CRAP.

i.e. W-bodys were flawed misguided Turdboxes right

from their birth in the mid 1980s. But a 1959 Pontiac

Bonneville, whether brand new, slightly used, rental

car, company car, museum quality classic, survivor,

beater, or even just a neglected relic in someone's

side yard, buried in the weeds, is still a million times

more desirable to me than a brandy-new W-body

Pontiac. 50 years from now, your Grand Prix will just

be another mistake by GM, while many of the "old,

crappy" cars I buy/drive/sell will be priceless.

Priceless = 500 bucks ... :rotflmao:

[balthazar]

...a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville...

Priceless = 500 bucks ... :rotflmao:

Hilton Head Sports & Classic Car Auction : Lot# 85, 1959 Pontiac Bonneville Tri-Power Convertible, est selling price: $125,000-$150,000.

2008 Barrett-Jackson Auction : 1959 Pontiac Catalina Convertible, the 'Pink Lady' SO car, belonged to Harley Earl's wife, sold: $225,000.

35 years ago, you'd have a hard time getting $7500 for the same cars.

:rotflmao:

[balthazar]

I'm going to revise my opinion on this Corvette. The lowness/proportion of the car is exotically extreme, and the bird's eye view is 100% fantastic, but I do agree with those that found the front grille & the radical fender contours distasteful/ overwrought.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Hilton Head Sports & Classic Car Auction : Lot# 85, 1959 Pontiac Bonneville Tri-Power Convertible, est selling price: $125,000-$150,000.

2008 Barrett-Jackson Auction : 1959 Pontiac Catalina Convertible, the 'Pink Lady' SO car, belonged to Harley Earl's wife, sold: $225,000.

35 years ago, you'd have a hard time getting $7500 for the same cars.

:rotflmao:

Yeah but 68 doesn't buy anything like that ... :rotflmao:

[PurdueGuy]

Looking at more pictures, this car is HOT at some angles, and NOT at others. Overall it's very cool, but it's a mixed bag & just doesn't inspire me at enough angles.

[Intrepidation]

Looking at more pictures, this car is HOT at some angles, and NOT at others. Overall it's very cool, but it's a mixed bag & just doesn't inspire me at enough angles.

I agree completely. I think overhead views like this:

are its best angle

[PurdueGuy]

I agree completely. I think overhead views like this:

are its best angle

Yeah, the rear mostly looks good, though I'm still not sure I like the exhaust (though it's grown on me some). The side profile is all Corvette and looks great. I think they could've done something better with the grill (the nose shape is fine, but the grill looks very early '90's concept car) and the headlights.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I think everyone is taking this car too literally...

Remember, it was made to be a character in Transformers. Of course it's going to be exaggerated.

I love it and I'm sure I'll love the toned down street version.

[NOS2006]

Really, you guys are seriously blowing this car out of proportion.

I'm sure it's a very good foreshadowing to what's to come, but you can't take that front and rear end completely 100% serious. I'll chop it up sometime and hopefully come up with something sexier and closer to production form...

That being said, I agree that this car has incredibly sexy lines, but needs some mending...

[Intrepidation]

Really, you guys are seriously blowing this car out of proportion.

I'm sure it's a very good foreshadowing to what's to come, but you can't take that front and rear end completely 100% serious. I'll chop it up sometime and hopefully come up with something sexier and closer to production form...

That being said, I agree that this car has incredibly sexy lines, but needs some mending...

How are we blowing this car out of proportions? This is one of the few design critique threads we've had lately that doesn't have "OMFG IT IS THE SUXXORS AND IS UGLY AS YOUR MOM"

[G. David Felt]

I Love that Corvette, I want one. Please build it and they will come even in this down economy. Totally Rocks.

[Sixty8panther]

Yeah but 68 doesn't buy anything like that ... :rotflmao:

No.... nothing even close.

Cause a '68 Camaro, '59 Buick 2-door-post,

'64 Olds Super 88 (just to name a few)

are alwys going to be worthless.

Lest we forget the 455 Powered Buick that

the moderator of this forum bought off me.

[aurora97]

You know, I completely appreciate the efforts made my GM to make this car. I fully recognize that this was done in conjunction for a movie. The design at the bird's eye view of this car is simply brilliant. I can't wait to see what NOS2006 does with his photoshop to make this car look more like a production model. If I had the skills, I would certainly take a crack at how I would change the front and rear shape of the car. The emblem, in and of itself, is genius. Anything that has ever graced the name Corvette has always been on the edge of design and performance whether it be a concept or production. My hat is off to them on this one.

However, when watching the youtube clip of Ed Welburn

explaining the way the design of the car was crafted, I had to raise an eyebrow when he said, "...the way the glass wraps around the side..." This made me think of yet another GM concept car that hit the show circuit recently.

"This is pure Stingray." Really?

[gm4life]

Needs a little work on the rear end like the classic two and two tail lights and to be toned down some but I like the styling direction its going in. So is this a preview of the C7, to a certain extent? If it is I like what I am seeing.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Cause a '68 Camaro, '59 Buick 2-door-post,

'64 Olds Super 88 (just to name a few)

are alwys going to be worthless.

Exactly ...

[balthazar]

Cheap, easy to engineer repro parts for completely worthless cars no one wants:

:rotflmao:

Edited February 14, 2009 by balthazar

[turbo200]

this, as tney've described it, is a one-off for the movie and has no bearing on the future corvette. the only good thing about this concept is that it's a classid reimaged. it's pretty bad in the context of today's supercars and would likely be an automatic failure in that realm, in terms of design. the surface elements are actually pretty cool, but every detail screams made for a movie show-off. themes like the grille, headlamps, and taillamps are exaggeratively cartoonish and aggressive. i'm guessing this'll be a decepticon. i like the notion of revisiting some themes off the classic stingray, but i've seen better ideas put together for Motor Trend.

[Lance Truthhammer]

I saw the Stingray at the Autoshow today. I think it is an awesome concept and I voted for best in show. To me, there was simply no contest, and I tried to be impartial. However, I think that it falls far short of being a great concept. Two things seriously detract from the design. First, I think the minimalist headlights and taillights are missed opportunities to add to the beauty of the design. They really don't fit the in-your-face character of the rest of the car. Second, and perhaps contradicting what I just said, I think that maybe the front intakes and rear exhausts need to be toned down. Really the car has amazing lines, these only seem to detract from the shape of the car without really adding anything. If GM can work with this a little more it would be up there with the Sixteen, Solstice, and G6 concepts in my book as the most beautiful ever. I would not be surprised to see many design elements from this in the next generation Corvette.

- E.S. Mail

[daves87rs]

I like the look...very edgy.....

[ShadowDog]

Well, it's definitely a concept, without a doubt I'm grateful for that. By that, I mean, rarely do concepts find their way to production form in every way. This is simply a showcase of design without any sense of practical thought. I'll probably appreciate it from the front and rear after it's been put in a wind-tunnel and through its paces to convert into something more people would like to own.

...I do like the profile. IMHO, the top view is rather pointless unless there's some sort of highly influential group that grades how a car looks from an overpass. Maybe due to all the L.A. high-speed car chases we see on FOX? I dunno.

[Sixty8panther]

Exactly ...

What the hell does that make your FWD, W-body Grand Prix?

Hope you paid no more than $500 for it cause even that's

$120 too much according to your math.

Also, for someone who's so picky and critical of everyone

else's cars I think it's funny your member title is Pontiac

Custom-S, THAT was the disposable '69 Pontiac that ended

up donating its interior and bumpers to the high-$$$ GTOs

& GTO Judges...

You still manage to amaze me sometimes.

[ZL-1]

I have mixed feeling about it. From most angles it looks really cool...but for some reason I don't like the way it looks from the front 3/4 angle.[/img]

It looks overdone, like the designers took those heritage cues and exaggerated them. The wheel arches/bulges, for example. But the idea of bringing back some 1963-1967 period styling cues is a really interesting one!

I hope GM is serious with regard to a NG Corvette (even if GM's troubles mean it takes a little longer to get here) and I hope this is one of the styling paths they look into, regardless of the final result...

[Sixty8panther]

I'd much rather have EXACTLY this in production than

the bland & watered down C4 & C5. I love the C4 &

the C5 even more but their styling is absolutely bread

& butter compared to their 40 year old counterparts.