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Corvette Stingray Concept (aka Sideswipe from Transformers 2) Revealed

02/11/2009, 11:14 AM

By Nick Aziz

General Motors announced the surprise debut of the Chevrolet Stingray Concept at the Chicago Auto Show on Wednesday. The car will appear in the forthcoming film “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen,” as the vehicle mode of Autobot “Sideswipe.”

Various images of the car leaked from the set of Transformers 2 onto the Web in 2008. In September, we asked former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz if the vehicles was meant to preview an eventual production car. “I would say that is in the realm of pure concept,” he said. “At this point, there’s zero intention to produce.” It’s not known if anything has changed since that interview.

That said, Mr. Lutz also told us the new Camaro began as a “pure concept” without production ambitions, so it’s possible this Corvette has some kind of future. For now, though, the show car’s purpose in life is to celebrate 100 years of motoring history at GM, and of course, fight evil as “Sideswipe” in Revenge of the Fallen. As always, reception will be an important factor in production consideration.

The Chevy Camaro will again have a staring role in the film, returning as “Bumblebee.” Meanwhile, the Chevrolet Volt will join the team of Autobots, introducing a new character to the series named “Jolt.” The Trax and Beat compact concepts will also appear in the film as “Skids” and “Mudflap.”

(Scroll below video player for photo gallery).

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02/11, 11:18 AM

posted by:

idrinorbarsaku

GM….YOU NEED THIS TO HELP YOURSELF SURVIVE!!!!!!

02/11, 11:19 AM

posted by:

drchiem

Wow this one look bad ass. It’s about time GM to step up with da game!!!!

02/11, 11:20 AM

posted by:

johnnycanuck

Too cool. Just build it.

02/11, 11:26 AM

posted by:

Dante_JoseCuervo

Hmmmm. this kinda reminds me of the ME-412 concept. Cool car though, hope something very similar to this goes into production.

02/11, 11:32 AM

posted by:

Lariat Luxury Locomotive Liner No.3

The roof line it far too low for any female to love it…all the more reason to build the damn thing like JC said!

02/11, 11:33 AM

posted by:

ninetysixvert

GM doesn’t need this to survice, GM needs the opposite of this to survive. Why throw all this money at a concept and then waste additional funds to have this Stingray Concept featured in a new movie? The Corvette Stingray would obviously be a high performance version of the base Corvette, i.e. it will cost more too. ‘Vette’s aren’t cheap, Z06’s are expesnsive, and a Stingray would be pricer still. The Stingray would bring in boatloads of money; it won’t sell like a Civic or Camry. Waste of money IMO, regardless how cool the concept is.

02/11, 11:46 AM

posted by:

idrinorbarsaku

that sand or snow picture got me thinking, could you imagine how sweet a corvette would be if it had the option to have a light weight awd system??? i would drive that all year long!!

02/11, 11:46 AM

posted by:

JakeK66

Why not build it off the Camaro platform and charge less than 50k for it? Get rid of the Corvette name, call it simply the “Stingray” and use a steel/aluminum body panels. Wouldn’t take the time or the cost to build and with the Camaro’s production slowing down after it’s first one or two years, there you go. It won’t cheapen the Corvette name, since itself will be it’s own model, and it will sell something, since the C6 has been so delayed. GM you have nothing to lose, just give it a try!

02/11, 11:47 AM

posted by:

DCG3

do it please!

02/11, 11:52 AM

posted by:

HoosierHero

I just shat myself. This thing is beautiful.

02/11, 11:54 AM

posted by:

Badass Z51

If the next vette even slightly resembles this cartoonish monstrosity my current Corvette will be my last…..I am however in favor of GM bringing back the Stingray name.

02/11, 11:57 AM

posted by:

A4

they need to fix the lobster eyes and then it gets my vote for production

02/11, 12:04 PM

posted by:

aesir

For those of you complaining about this being a waste of money you have to understand that this is business. It’s marketing, plain and simple. Marketing budgets for a company this size is gigantic. Who are they targeting here, the enthusiast? Why the enthusiast, because we are the ones people ask when it comes to buy a car. In the last month, I have given my mom information on what new car to buy talking to her about everything from a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid to a Toyota Rav 4. In the last week, a banking friend of mine making a modest income asked me about what car to get when he finishes his MBA and I talked to him about everything from the 2010 Buick LaCross to the Hyundai Genesis.

At then end we, the enthusiasts, understand what’s out on the market. We understand our friends needs are (because we asked them; my mom wanted fuel efficiency, but lots of room, my friend wanted entry level luxury). We can help these people because we know where to find the resources to get the facts on these cars. So it makes sense to market to the enthusiast because we help drive the decisions our friends make. Granted it doesn’t always work out that way as my mom went out and bought a freaking Subaru Forester, but she is stubborn as a mule and hasn’t bought anything but Subaru since she lived up north. *sigh* (She lives in Florida now so the Subaru kills me… such a waste.)

Anyway, I love the idea of a front mid-engine Corvette Stingray, it makes me look at what else GM has to offer, now maybe I’ll get a CTS-V and maybe the next time a friend asks “the car guy (me)” I’ll talk about more GM products.

02/11, 12:06 PM

posted by:

Need more oil for GM

The Vette remains the hottest supercar ever. This redesign if it goes through will fly off the lots. The Corvette is a staple of America and everyone loves Corvettes around the world. This will once again be better than anything else out there and look cool doing it.

AN American Revolution

02/11, 12:09 PM

posted by:

Zcarsales

idrinorbarsaku, very good point. As far as the people concerning the money wasted on the concept/promotion of the concept.

Its essential that every car company have a soul. The Corvette is Chevy’s. As long there is Chevy there will be a Corvette. VW has the bug, Ford has the Mustang, Honda/Acura mistakenly dropped the NSX, Saturn attempted it with the SKY, etc.

These cars are symbols of what everyone wants. Psychologically, these products serve as a well that the company can market other cars from.

Chevrolet made the huge mistake of not including the Vette for just one year. The Corvette is an American icon. Its imbedded in our psyche.

Kudos to the design team on the all new Stingray. Its beautiful.

02/11, 12:12 PM

posted by:

Captain Crunch

—aesir—-
How old are you? 14? just wondering………

02/11, 12:47 PM

posted by:

ricky_b

Probably the best looking concept in the past 10 yrs. I want to see this on the road. Very happy to see that GM has paid attention and respect to the nameplate Corvette. This would take Corvette to whole new level. (I esp LOVE the retro Stingray split rear windshield)

02/11, 12:48 PM

posted by:

ochy38

when i saw this on here a few months ago i thought it was hideous, looking at it now, with some minor tweaking its bad ass

02/11, 12:59 PM

posted by:

CADDY-V

I would have to say that thing is HOT!!!!!!
It looks mean. Now give it some muscle.
THEN BUILD IT!!!!

02/11, 1:04 PM

posted by:

Blakkarr

Yet another useless fact:

Sideswipe was a red Lamborghini Countach. If not for the GM tie-in a Red Gallardo would not be out of step.

Nice Vette, though. A midcycle refresh towards this style would be great for the C6.

02/11, 1:20 PM

posted by:

Jon Luc

The windsheild looks like those awful square sunglasses from the ’80’s. LOL, but the rest of looks pretty good.

02/11, 1:22 PM

posted by:

Copperbottoms

wooooooowwwwwwww! Sweet, I miss the old ’70s stingrays. GM is finally getting away from a decade of stagnation!

02/11, 2:09 PM

posted by:

Camaro Design

If you do or don’t like it, just wait ’till you see it in person. It is indeed bad ass. A bold and iconic design that balances the old with new. I hate to even use the word new, it doesn’t even look like new car designs IMO. Much more avant-gard. If it challenges your sensibilities, well good. It should.

02/11, 2:28 PM

posted by:

atoms

the intakes on each side of the grill remind me a lot of the aston one-77 for some reason, and the rear lights also scream lexus LF-A, looks good though, the only part that i think should not be on the car is the tumor like exhaust pipes, maybe put them under the doors right before the rear wheel housing

02/11, 2:42 PM

posted by:

valenburg

HOLY MACH 5! looks pretty good. If Gm goes down, maybe corvette should branch off as it’s own company?

02/11, 2:48 PM

posted by:

valenburg

is there no A-pillar?

02/11, 3:01 PM

posted by:

KuroSyn

If that’s the next gen corvette…. holy sh!t… beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeautiful! I’ll be boasting on about it all the time! I’ve seen the “preview” on LLN before, but this… this is sheer beauty for a Corvette! DO IT! MAKE IT! This is sexy and cool and new and… and… and… I’m so clogged with wow’s now that I can’t determine what to say. Yes, this is the car to make for the next-gen Corvette! :)

02/11, 4:32 PM

posted by:

travis0017

haha, i didn’t notice it until the head-on shot of the Chevy Beat and Trax, but they look like complete rip-offs of the Honda Fit and Element. If you can’t Beat ‘em, join ‘em!

02/11, 5:56 PM

posted by:

Mutant@DCX

So, nobody here looked at the hideous backend? I mean, if this bad@ss is made, that is the only thing people will see, when racing against it…
And, move the twice pipes off the body panel.

02/11, 7:58 PM

posted by:

marcdevon

That Chevy Volt, Trax, Beat are going to get their a$$es kicked by Megatron.

02/11, 8:34 PM

posted by:

Das Stig

I saw this cars teaser and spy pictures a couple of months ago and thought to myself, it may be a concept but it’s not bad at all. I presume if this were to be put into production, it’s styling will be toned down although, if GM are considering it as the next generation C7 Corvette, I think they shouldn’t fiddle with this concept much because it looks gorgeous as it is. Lets see what happens.

02/11, 8:34 PM

posted by:

tyler_is_aero_tt

That’s badass.

02/11, 10:19 PM

posted by:

Ring-Taxi

This thing looks like it got whacked with the ugly stick. Twice.

02/11, 10:28 PM

posted by:

1c3d0g

EGGcellent!!! :cool: GM is the granddaddy of all car design…it just can’t get better than this!

02/11, 11:56 PM

posted by:

vortec4200

Sideswipe was a Dodge Viper SRT-10 in the Alternators line. Tracks was the Corvette Z06. WTF?

02/12, 12:11 AM

posted by:

pursang

Slap this body on the Zr1, signifigantly upgrade the interior, charge as much as an F430 and it will still be a success and a true bad@ssmobile. Think of it as what the Reventon is to the Murcielago and add apple pie.

02/12, 12:22 AM

posted by:

illwill

omg please fvcking build this :-o

02/12, 2:05 AM

posted by:

The Stig

If they’re filming Transformers II in Jordan and Egypt they had better take advantage of the local talent for driving on two wheels for prolonged periods of time.

02/12, 2:42 AM

posted by:

eff1Fifty

i wanna be on it

02/12, 2:45 AM

posted by:

mikemacnn

^^You must be kidding???

02/12, 2:50 AM

posted by:

fordman

Beautiful car,I wish they would build it and this is coming from a man who loves Fords!

02/12, 3:36 AM

posted by:

fan

now this concept aint even so bad… but they got to be kidding about the exhausts, dont they? looks like someone drilled 3 additional p00pholes… yuck…

02/12, 3:56 AM

posted by:

scratchy

this just looks ridiculous , they can’t be serious

02/12, 8:35 AM

posted by:

bigjimid

Wow! This thing is overall pretty nice. But there are also some places where it looks like they just went: “Ehh, what can we do here that’s different?”,”No, that would look stupid!”, “Yeah, but it would stand out. And that’s what we want.”

Looks like an amazing start to the ‘C7-S’ (Stingray).

Valenburg – Hidden. On the inside. Similar to an all glass roof.

02/12, 9:14 AM

posted by:

jonmiles

This is exactly what a concept should look like. I must say I’m impressed with the direction of GM’s recent designs. This, the camaro, and the volt all look excellent.

02/12, 9:52 AM

posted by:

Automotive_United_Nations

Need more oil for GM is gunna love this, but I’ve gotta say it: BUILD THIS CAR, NOW. If GM does not build this car, I will personally see to their end. This car is gorgeous, and with some minor changes for safety regulations, and an interior something like the classic concept they’re going for, this would sell like crazy. LS3, LS7, LS9, game over for anything under $100,000, cause everyone with the cash would want one. Awesome concept, now BRING IT TO US GM. And don’t take four years like the bloody Camaro, we’ve waited long enough for the real Bumblebee too.

02/12, 9:54 AM

posted by:

Automotive_United_Nations

P.S. Volt looks great too, but it ain’t gunna have a V8. For all you environmentalists out there, GM will be bringing out a great product for you soon. I, on the other hand, think almost 30 mpg highway is plenty for me, and i’ll see you in my Vette, Volting along. :D

02/12, 12:30 PM

posted by:

CarbonGSR

GM will be bankrupt before this car even attempts to hit the market.

02/12, 3:15 PM

posted by:

theonetwo

Intersting…in a good way. Waaay better looking than the camaro

02/12, 8:45 PM

posted by:

jayjc08

Looks to foreign to me. Missing everything iconic about the Corvette except the roofline.

While I think it’s cool looking, without knowing what brand this is I would mistake it for a Japanese concept gone wild.

02/14, 11:20 AM

posted by:

ManualorDeath

to me it seems to be heavily influenced by the Citroen GT concept. Does GM have to copy the french now. The back glass is the only iconic design this car really has…and it’s very well done

02/15, 6:53 PM

posted by:

SERSteve

This will never be built. it’s a great look but GM will never produce this. Especially not now while money is so tight. Even if they did build it it would probably cost $200,000 or more, so they would only sell about 100 of them in 4 years. I’d like to see a concept they could actually build and make money on.

 
 
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