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Coupe,
Chevrolet,
Misc. Auto Shows
It seems to be commonplace that when a new
Corvette is in development, rumors swirl about a possible mid-engine layout. As is the case of Chevy's most recent
C7 Corvette, these rumors never pan out.
In any case, the idea for a 'Vette with an engine mounted behind the driver can probably all be traced back to a single car, the 1964 XP-819 prototype. Built as an "engineering exercise" back in 1964, the prototype was designed with a rear-mounted engine. History tells us that the idea of a rear-engine Corvette fizzled, and the XP-819 was eventually cut up into pieces and stored at a shop in Daytona Beach, FL.
After sitting for untold years, a restoration project started on the car, and while it isn't yet fully completed, the current owner of the car, Mid America Motorworks, will have the car on display at the 2013
Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance as a "driveable chassis" with hopes of having a fully completed car ready to bring to next year's show.
While we don't know many of the details behind this car, we can obviously see that it wears strong C3 styling details four years before the third-generation Corvette ever launched. We will be on hand at Amelia Island next month, so we'll bring you more coverage of this one-of-a-kind Corvette, but until then, check out the original images of the car above and the press release
below.
Continue reading Experimental mid-engine XP-819 Corvette going up for auction
Experimental mid-engine XP-819 Corvette going up for auction originally appeared on
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ETC: Experimental mid-engine XP-819 Corvette going up for auction
