What once seemed like a pipe dream is now a reality, as the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette marks the decades-old sports car model’s move from a front- to a mid-engine layout. Developing the eighth-generation Corvette was a time-consuming affair that required more than simply swapping the engine from one end of the car to the other, though, and General Motors spent more than half a decade fine-tuning the dynamics of the C8.
Of course, GM couldn’t let the public know what it was up to, so the company tested the mid-engine platform under the bodywork of a Holden Maloo pickup truck. Take one look at this cobbled together development mule, though, and it’s obvious this is no ordinary Maloo. With its wide fender flares, big wing, and Corvette-sourced windshield and A-pillars, this hacked-up Holden fooled few into believing it was anything but an early development vehicle for a forthcoming mid-engined sports car.
Given the nickname “Blackjack” by GM employees, the mid-engined Maloo was hand-built in 2014 at GM’s Warren Technical Center in Michigan and served as the first C8 mule. Reflecting its Corvette ambitions, Blackjack sports an interior that shares its major hardware with that of the C7 Corvette. Likewise, Blackjack shares its V-8 engine with the seventh-generation Corvette, although it uses a Porsche-sourced dual-clutch automatic transmission (or PDK in Porsche-speak).
Naturally, development vehicles wearing production-style bodywork—under heavy camouflage, of course—supplemented Blackjack as development continued on the new Corvette. While the basic shape of the C8 began to come into focus with these cars, the model’s styling details remained under wraps as engineers went about sorting out the mid-engined monster’s dynamics. What started with approximately 11 handbuilt mules in 2016, soon multiplied into nearly 100 development vehicles as the decade wore on. The latter batch of mules wore near-production design details and interiors, albeit under camouflage.
With the 2020 Corvette now in production, the car’s early development mules need no longer toil about in secrecy. In fact, GM brought a handful of the vehicles out from hiding during a recent press event for the new Corvette, which gave us the opportunity to see the lengths GM went to engineer the latest iteration of its infamous sports car.
Arguably, all of the company’s work paid off, as the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette impressed us enough to earn our 2020 Car of the Year award. Like its forebears, the latest Corvette is a performance bargain. Thank its $59,995 starting price and the almost 500 horses produced from its 6.2-liter V-8 engine, which helps the latest Corvette sprint 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. There’s no need to pinch yourself because the mid-engined Corvette is as real as the mid-engined Maloo that kicked the C8’s development into high gear.
