![\"Chevrolet](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/04\/12\/PDTN\/3d8e585b-be31-41f9-ad3d-70b8d27ee217-corvette5.jpg?width=520&height=390&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>The worst-kept secret in autodom is out.<\/p>\n
The veil was lifted Thursday\u00a0night when General Motors Co. confirmed the existence of its long-rumored\u00a0mid-engine Corvette by driving it through the most public place on the planet \u2014 Times Square, New York.<\/p>\n
With Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter behind the wheel and GM CEO Mary Barra riding shotgun, the thinly-camouflaged C8 stopped traffic at 7th Avenue & Broadway on the way to the Marriott Marquis Hotel where Barra publicly confirmed the next-generation Corvette.<\/p>\n
The mid-engine supercar will officially break cover, sans\u00a0camou, on July 18 at a yet-to-be-disclosed event.<\/p>\n
The first production Corvette to sport an engine mounted behind the driver, the new, so-called C8\u00a0 ‘Vette (for eighth generation) will debut with the legendary Stingray badge and around 500-horsepower from a\u00a0push-rod V-8 engine. More engine variations are expected including a twin-turbo V-8 and even a hybrid version with an electric motor up front producing over 1,000 horsepower.<\/p>\n
The C8’s Times Square debut was carefully choreographed to take place in the middle of New York rush hour \u2014\u00a0from 5.50-6.05\u00a0PM\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and deliver Barra to the annual\u00a0Footsteps to the Future Gala put on by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.\u00a0The foundation honors New York fireman\u00a0Siller, who died in the 9\/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n
Juechter and Barra piloted the supercar (its 07.18.19 launch date emblazoned on the side) out of a Barclays Bank garage where it had been secreted Thursday. Accompanied by four giant, black Chevy Suburbans \u2014\u00a0and one of\u00a0New York’s finest on a police bicycle \u2014\u00a0the Corvette motorcade then made its way down 7th Avenue south of 47th Street and the giant Times Square grandstand where TV stations broadcast the New Year’s ball drop.<\/p>\n
GM had video and still cameras in place \u2014\u00a0including high in a Times\u00a0Square building \u2014\u00a0to record the C8’s quick jaunt.<\/p>\n
A bystander says Juechter behaved himself, resisting the temptation to rev the C8’s big engine for the throngs of people cramming the curbs to get a peak of the camouflaged creature.<\/p>\n
After cruising past the Disney Store, Broadway, and a forest of neon billboards, Juechter hung a right at 45th Street (past the Minnskoff\u00a0Theater where\u00a0the Lion King is playing)\u00a0and delivered Barra and the C8 to the Marriott’s front\u00a0entrance.<\/p>\n
A blizzard of Internet media followed.<\/p>\n
While Barra addressed the gala, GM posted a not-so-cryptic notice on GM’s website.\u00a0The company posted\u00a0<\/a>to customers: “Don’t get left behind.\u00a0The Next Generation Corvette is the most anticipated Corvette ever. . . . Sign up to receive updates straight from the source and be the first to know about the Next Gen Corvette. “<\/p>\n The post was followed by GM social media posts and video\u00a0<\/a>of the mid-engine Corvette taking the city by storm. The icing on the cake came from\u00a0GM motorhead and President\u00a0Mark Reuss \u2014\u00a0long a champion of\u00a0the Corvette program \u2014\u00a0who posted pictures<\/a>\u00a0of the C8 on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n Rumors of a mid-engine Corvette have been around for years as the current car pushed the boundaries of front-engine performance \u2014\u00a0and competitors like Ford and Acura moved to mid-engine platforms. The Detroit News\u00a0first confirmed the existence of the mid-engine car\u00a0<\/a>in August of 2016, and spy photographers have taken multiple shots of the car testing on race tracks and roadways around the U.S.<\/p>\n