1986 Indy Mid-Engine Concept Corvette

September 26, 2021 Off By Mike Vietro

Image courtesy of The Corvette Museum

The thought of a Mid-Engined Corvette may seem common place now that the C8 is entering its 3rd year of production, but it is fun to look back to the days when Chevrolet was just toying with the idea.

It all started in 1960 when Zora Arkus-Duntov realized a new transaxle that was under consideration at General Motors would enable the Corvette to take advantage of the inherent advantages of locating the engine near the middle of the car. Unfortunately, GM canceled this transaxle’s production before gaining acceptance, but Duntov could not be discouraged from the idea of a mid-engine Corvette and went on to produce a few prototypes.

Duntov left GM in 1975. 11 years later, Chevrolet produced a concept car to showcase this design to find out if the buying public would be interested in the mid-engine idea. The car would also show off leading edge technologies under development by GM which was normal for factory show cars of the day. Hence, the Chevrolet Corvette Indy was born and debuted at that Detroit’s 1986 Auto Show.

The Indy never saw production, but it did become a rolling laboratory used to test both engine and suspension technology for future Corvette models.

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Owners’ Corner

Pete T.’s 1967

I bought my 1967 400hp 427 Rally Red coupe from Riverside Chevrolet in Jacksonville, Florida in the late summer of 1967. I was a Navy fighter pilot who had just returned from Vietnam and this was my “get-back-from-Vietnam-alive” car. I had been flying missions over North Vietnam and was lucky enough to survive the catastrophic USS Forrestal fire at sea in July 1967.

I had gone to Riverside Chevrolet to buy a 350 convertible, but a slick-talking salesman had a special deal in the back he wanted me to see. There was a 400-horsepower coupe with everything on it except power brakes. Supposedly, it was a special-order car that had been refused. Sticker price was $6,500 as I remember, but the salesman said he would let it go for $5,000. Little did I know what a deal I had purchased!
It took 40 years to figure that one out.

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