Mid engine Corvette delayed over electrical gremlins, report says

0 0 Sunday, December 16, 2018 Edit this post

By Andrew Krok, Roadshow

It's all but a guarantee at this point, according to spy shots and various leaks, that the long-rumored mid engine Corvette will debut in the near future. But while it was pegged for a 2019 Detroit Auto Show debut, a new report says that's no longer the case.

Earlier this week, GM Authority reported that the mid engine Corvette will not debut at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show, despite earlier reports affirming as much. Chevrolet confirmed to GM Authority that its car and crossover team has no debut planned for Detroit, making the Cadillac XT6 the major GM debut in January.

In a later report, we're given the alleged reason why -- the electrical system needs a complete do-over. Sources familiar with the issue told GM Authority that the car's electrical system can't handle loads it should, and instead of half-assing a fix, Chevrolet intends to reengineer the electrical system, incurring a multi-month delay. That said, the report claims that the mid engine Corvette should still debut for the 2020 model year.

Chevrolet declined to comment, stating as it always does that the company does not comment on potential future products.

We still don't know much about Chevrolet's fabled MR Corvette. A poster on the Corvette Forum claims that it will be called the Corvette Manta Ray, and that it will pack a 520-horsepower V8. The poster also claims that a Grand Sport variant will eventually launch with Cadillac's Blackwing V8 -- however, the only information we've heard about the Blackwing involves other Cadillac models and nothing from Chevrolet.