Chevrolet finally acknowledged the existence of the C8 Corvette towards the end of last week by driving a prototype through Times Square in New York City with GM chief executive Mary Barra in the passenger seat and chief Corvette engineer Tadge Juechter behind the wheel.
As it turns out, there was also a third person who went along for the ride.
The eagle-eyed guys over at Corvette Blogger noticed that on the passenger-side wing mirror and door of the C8 Corvette prototype there were tiny stickers featuring the silhouette of Zora-Arkus Duntov, the Corvette’s first engineer and a man who pushed for the creation of a mid-engine ‘Vette throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
The Zora name has long been associated with the C8-generation Corvette and for some time, it seemed inevitable that the car would feature ‘Zora’ in its name. However, spy shots published by Carscoops recently confirmed that the new car will still be known as the Corvette Stingray.
However, the presence of these small stickers paying tribute to Duntov may suggest that the car manufacturer is looking for a way to honor the engineer with the new supercar. Some reports claim that a high-performance variant could be dubbed the ‘Zora.’
Whatever the case may be, we have a lot to look forward to about the C8 Corvette, most notably that the car will be mid-engined and the entry-level model will feature a naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V8 engine with around 500 hp. A plethora of other variants are on the cards and the range-topping hybrid model may pump out as much as 1000 hp.
The 2020 Corvette C8 will premiere on July 18th.