Corvette Concept breaks cover
General Motors has cut the ribbon on its newest global design hub, setting up shop in Royal Leamington Spa near Birmingham and used the occasion to unveil a bold new Corvette Concept that signals where the brand could be heading.
The dramatically sculpted Chevrolet Corvette Concept, developed by GM’s UK-based design team, is part of a global Corvette design initiative. Additional concepts from the project are expected to surface throughout 2025, each bringing its own twist on the Corvette’s storied DNA.
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While there are no production plans for this machine, the show car is a glimpse into the future-thinking ethos of GM’s newly minted UK Advanced Design Studio – one that blends cutting-edge tech, radical form, and Corvette heritage into something altogether fresh.
The Leamington Spa facility is now GM’s creative foothold in Europe, complementing its studios in Detroit, LA, Shanghai, and Seoul. The studio’s brief? To think beyond the showroom – to explore what performance, luxury, and mobility might look like 10 or even 20 years down the road. It’s headed by design veteran Julian Thomson, best known for his work at Jaguar and Lotus.
At the centre of this grand opening is the Corvette Concept – a hypercar vision that riffs on the legendary nameplate while tossing out the rulebook. The design pulls inspiration from aviation, with sculptural bodywork and a unique “Apex Vision” canopy – a vertical, structural windscreen spar that evokes the 1963 split-window Sting Ray.
The body, primarily built using additive manufacturing, showcases a lightweight structural aesthetic with flowing, aerodynamic lines. The upper section embraces Corvette cues reimagined for tomorrow, while the lower half houses the EV underpinnings and technical aero elements.
Wing-like doors open to reveal a low-slung cockpit, with a 127mm seat height that’s pure race car. At the front, 22-inch wheels meet 23s at the rear, sitting under a sculpted, ground-effect-enhanced underbody. The chassis boasts a pushrod suspension setup, developed with motorsport in mind.
Active aerodynamics take centre stage, offering dual-mode performance: slick and efficient for the road, aggressive and reactive for the track. Think aircraft-style dorsal fins, reconfigurable aero surfaces, and active venting that vector air to boost cornering performance.
Inside, the windshield spar doubles as an augmented reality display, another nod to the fusion of form and function that defines the concept.
According to GM design chief Michael Simcoe, the Corvette name has always been a canvas for experimentation – and this new concept is a “blank-sheet rethink” aimed at pushing the envelope of what a Corvette could be.
“Each studio brought its own vision to the project,” said Simcoe. “But all pay respect to Corvette’s iconic DNA. That’s what our advanced design network is all about – stretching the limits and challenging convention.”
