By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(October 14, 2014) Almost two years ago I wrote a story about an item that had appeared in one of the monthly magazines about a 5.5-liter V8 with stop/start technology that would be used in an entry-level version of the C7 Corvette. I didn’t buy it, but the rumor jogged a memory of my time at Automotive Industries magazine where the late Gerry Kobe educated me on the occasional need to create three stories from no story.

At the end of the article, I ran a piece I had created for a former boss when I was called upon to sub for him. It was a fictitious piece about a coming mid-engined Corvette that used rumors at the time and insider information to create a credible story. Only it wasn’t true.

Fast forward nearly two years, and once again there’s wild speculation about a mid-engine Corvette suspiciously similar to the car described in my original post.

This time around, however, they are joined by suppositions regarding a new Ford GT that could spearhead a return to Le Mans in time for the 2016 24 Hours, 50 years after Ford’s first of four consecutive victories (1966-1969) at the French classic. According to the rumor mill, suddenly Detroit is awash in mid-engined super cars. However, this time it all could be true.

The Corvette C8 

Bob Lutz and former Corvette chief engineer Tom Wallace had plans to built a two-tier Corvette family prior to GM’s bankruptcy. The volume ‘Vette would be the C7 as we know it today, from base Stingray to the supercharged Z06. At they top of the family tree sat the C8, a mid-engined sports car fully capable of challenging the Porsche 911 and Ferrari 458.

Wild rumors had it powered by a twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6, though a V8-powered version always was in the cards. A Saab-designed dual-clutch transmission was scheduled to be used, though it ran into cost problems that threatened to doom the program. Eventually, even with Cadillac sharing the platform for its own Audi R8 competitor, the project was deemed cost prohibitive as GM headed toward bankruptcy.

In fact, things became so dire at one point that the entire Corvette program was in jeopardy. The front-engine, rear-drive C7 was cancelled on more than one occasion, but GM executives, especially interim CEO Fritz Henderson, fought hard to keep the project alive. It was not the first Corvette to get the axe then be resurrected; the C5 suffered the same fate.

Turbocharged V6s have been mentioned, but you know the C8 will have to offer a V8 if it's going to wear the Corvette badge.

The dual-track C7 program would have produced a mid-engined car about the size of a Porsche 911. Both Lutz and GM chief designer Ed Welburn were keen to build a car with aggressive styling, as well as good sight lines and a trim shape. The car had an aggressive wedge and wheel-at-each-corner stance, lots of glass, and a low nose with a prominent ridge line down the center; the last item making it easier to place in a corner. Though the Corvette version never was seen in public, the Cadillac Cien concept was very close to the styling of Cadillac’s version.

Instead of beginning with this design, the C8 starts from a clean sheet of paper. Technology has moved on to the point that aluminum construction isn’t enough. Carbon fiber must be added to the mix in order to make the C8 a credible competitor, especially in Europe and China. And it will be joined by magnesium castings and sheet. The C8 will share its powertrains with the C7, but GM engineers also looking to borrow the Volt’s Voltec drive technology.

This would place a pair of electric drive motors up front, and a T-shaped battery pack that crosses in front of the front bulkhead before traveling down the center of the passenger tub. (The gas tank is behind the seats.) Not only would this give the car “green” credentials as it would be able to travel 12-18 miles on electric power alone, but the front drive unit is designed to help power the car out of corners and provide torque vectoring.

Though GM originally looked to Saab for dual-clutch technology, the C8 has a number of gearbox options. Engineers insist the C7 and C8 will share a number of parts and technology. And while GM has looked to companies like Xtrac, Ricardo and Graziano for help in designing and supplying gearboxes for the car, an internal group reportedly has taken the internals of the C7’s transmission (automatic and manual) and packaged them in unique cases for use in the C8.

Though more expensive than an outsourced transmission currently, the GM engineers are confident they can get the cost of their design down before production of the mid-engined cars begins in late 2016/early 2017.

Yes, you read that right, mid-engined cars. With the move of Johan de Nysschen from Audi to Infiniti to Cadillac, the C8’s platform is coveted at Cadillac. The division in in the midst of developing the flagship CT6 sedan, and has spoken of an über sedan that would slot in above that. However, adding a mid-engined two-seat coupe and convertible would provide a halo for the brand in a way that a sedan never could, and allow Cadillac to compete directly with Audi, BMW and Mercedes/AMG.

It’s uncertain when the C8 may be shown to the public, especially since it is a few years from production. However, Fords rumored plans to launch a new Ford GT may determine when and where the Corvette and Cadillac debut.

A Golden Opportunity

Throughout the summer, Detroit has been abuzz with the rumor that Ford would be returning to Le Mans in 2016, the 50th anniversary of its first win at the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Had Ford run its 2.3-liter EcoBoost inline four in a major racing series or placed the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 in the 2015 Mustang, Ford Racing’s efforts in the United SportCar Championship (USC), might have made sense.


Ford's first Le Mans win came in 1966 with the Ford GT Mk. II, and was the first of two factory-backed triumphs.

However, although Ford uses the EcoBoost V6 to power the Taurus SHO and Lincoln MKS, it is primarily a truck motor. The most popular engine in the F-150 lineup, it also is used in the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT. These are not vehicles whose engine requires a sporting pedigree, or whose buyers frequent endurance race paddocks.

Racer magazine reported that Ford has been looking to expand its racing personnel beyond what its current race programs require. This followed cancellation of a program whereby Dan Gurney’s All American Racers would have run a team of GTE-spec Mustangs at Le Mans in 2016 after a preparatory phase that would have seen the cars run in the USC and the World Endurance Championship (WEC). Ford was intent on beating Corvette and taking a class win at Le Mans, but this program soon started to lose steam, despite the 2015 Mustang being sold globally. All of which begs the question: With that program canceled, why would Ford need more racing personnel?

To look forward, first we must look back. Originally, the 2015 Mustang was to use a new rear-drive platform that it would share with both Lincoln and Ford Australia. Lincoln would pull a “Mark 9” coupe and convertible, and a full-size sedan from this platform, while Ford of Australia would use it to replace its rapidly aging Falcon sedan and utility. Lincoln threw this plan into chaos when it decided to do little more than reskin and add technology to existing Ford platforms.

Unfortunately, this loss in volume made the new platform prohibitively expensive. Thus, Ford of Australia — which will stop building cars in 2016 — was forced to update the Falcon platform. Similarly, the Mustang group soldiered on with a modified S197 (2005-2014) base, though it now shares little more than a handful of parts with that car. That wasn’t the real tragedy, however.

The wildest rumors suggest this direction change killed plans put forth by a small skunkworks within Ford to build a low-volume, mid-engined Mustang road car. It would have replaced the GT in Ford’s lineup, and provided the platform for a prototype to run at Le Mans. It also would have produced a two-tiered Mustang program that mirrored the C7/C8 Corvette strategy GM is rumored to be following. It’s uncertain whether this proposal ever made it to the full-size clay model stage before it was canceled.

Fast forward a few years. Ford begins supplying EcoBoost engines for the Grand Am/USC race series. It is a testbed for a larger project that would see Ford work with Ganassi Racing, Michael Shank Racing and Canada’s Multimatic to run at Le Mans.

Ford's support for the Grand Am/USC series has brought it two teams capable of running the factory effort, and a manufacturer capable of not only building the race car, but helping to engineer the road car.

For a program like this, you need more race engineers. Further, the decline in the number of teams capable of affording the moon shot budgets of the World Endurance Championship’s P1 class, and the melding of  USC’s DP and WEC’s P2 cars into a common formula in 2017, opened the door for a Ford factory effort at the 24 Hours. The only thing missing was a vehicle (pun intended) by which Ford could capitalize on its foray at Le Mans.

Rumors abound that Ford will announce the Le Mans race and road car programs at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.

Though Ford’s engine boffins say the production EcoBoost V6 can produce “much more” than 500 horsepower, it may be only one of the engines offered in the road car. Which brings us to another rumor that has been floating around Detroit for more than a year: Ford has plans to build a flat-plane crank 5.0-liter V8 for the Mustang capable of producing 550 hp.

This engine reportedly spins to 9,000 rpm and is very strong at the top end. It also is exotic technology for a car that, until recently, has relied on superchargers for more output. However, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for a road-going race car. We’ll have to wait until January to see just which rumors are true, and whether GM takes the opportunity to show a C8 concept in order to dim Ford’s limelight.

Top photo: The Cadillac Cien and its mid-engined (yet still unseen) Corvette donor vehicle.

The Virtual Driver