Is this a Corvette Prototype?

[Patrick T.]

Does anyone have any knowledge about the car below? Thanks, Patrick

[Ed S.]

Re: Is this a Corvette Prototype?

According to one website it is a 1969 Mid Engine XP-882 Corvette.

Here is the link to the website: http://www.corvettes.nl/gm_prototypes/xp882/index.html

The website lists a whole bunch of alleged GM (Corvette) prototypes

[Patrick T.]

Re: Is this a Corvette Prototype?

Thanks Ed, very interesting.

[Duke W.]

Re: Is this a Corvette Prototype?

The XP-882 appeared on the cover of Road & Track, circa early seventies as I recall, with a headline that went something like: This is the 1973 Corvette. The technical description of the drivetrain matched what I saw at the GM Tech Center in the summer of 1970 while I was a grad student at the U. of Wisconsin Engine Research Center - a transverse mounted 400 CID small block with a Toronado transfer chain system to a transmission mounted along the front side (right side if mounted conventionally) of the engine.

The transmission tail housing was replaced by a bevel drive housing with a short driveshaft through a "window" in the oil pan to a conventional Corvette axle and a slightly modified version of the three link IRS. There were at least three of these setups with four-speed Muncies in dyno cells, and my thought was "durability testing" for a production configuration.

Years later in the mid-nineties I had the pleasure of spending a day with the late Chuck Jordon at his home in Rancho Santa Fe CA, and I related the above story to him along with my conclusion. Chuck just laughed and said: "That was just another one of Duntov's pipe dreams". Well, that sure as hell took the wind out of my sails. Chuck went on to say that every mid-engine concept would cost more to produce, even the above clever layout that minimized the additional tooling and production cost for special parts, and since the Corvette sold well and was profitable, management did not want to raise the price point.

Duke