Lutz: Blue Devil Corvette in final development stages

Engineers at General Motors are putting the finishing touches on the forthcoming "Blue Devil" Corvette, according to Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. Although new government emissions regulations have put future rear-wheel-drive GMs in jeopardy, the Blue Devil won't be affected.

"That one is too late to stop. That’s almost finished. It’s in the final stages of tuning,” Lutz told Car and Driver in a recent interview.

[Source: LeftlaneNews]

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Lutz said development of the vehicle has been a challenge. "This thing has so much power […] We’re really into a speed and power realm that General Motors has never been in before. We’re way up there with Porsche Carrera GTs and Ferraris.” Lutz said predicable handing and safety are top priorities.

Lutz would not give a specific horsepower rating, but he said matching the Viper SRT10's 600 hp would not be "satisfactory." As for 700 hp, Lutz said that would be a "stretch." In other words, expect the new Corvette to be somewhere in between.

C&D reckons the Blue Devil will arrive on the auto show circuit in early 2008 as a 2009 model. Automotive News previously quoted Lutz as saying the more powerful two-seater would arrive in summer 2009.

Possible names for the production Blue Devil include Corvette SS, Z07 or Sting Ray.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2009-blue-devil-corvette-in-final-development-phase.html

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