The third installment of the Transformers movie franchise will premier on 7th July 2011. We have blogged a new Transformer character in the form of a Ferrari 458 Italia will be included in the upcoming Transformers 3 Dark The Moon. More on that at another time. For now, our focused will be on a speedster version of the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept.
In the previous Transformer 2 Revenge of the Fallen, there was an autobot character named Sideswipe, who appears in the form of a Corvette Stingray Concept in coupe bodytype.
The Stingray Concept was first unveiled in the 2009 Detroit Motor Show as the 50th Anniversary Corvette Stingray Concept, a homage to the original 1959 Sting Ray Racer Concept which would eventually inspire the second generation C2 Corvette, also known as the Corvette Sting Ray. Note that many people confuse the name Stingray and Sting Ray. The single word nomenclature actually refers to the third generation C3 Corvette, also known as the Mako Shark, as the design of the C3 Corvette was first previewed in the Mako Shark II concept car. The Stingray name however was dropped by the next model change. Under GM's product placement deal with Michael Bay, the Corvette Stingray Concept earned a starring role for Transformers 2, although screen time was very limited for this character.
1963 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe
1959 Corvette Sting Ray Racer concept car
The Sting Ray in coupe and convertible body type, with the Sting Ray Racer concept that inspired their creation in the background.
While the coupe Stingray Concept is no stranger to the automotive press and the public, the speedster body type version of the Corvette Stingray Concept however, has never been acknowledged by GM. But pictures taken from film shooting sites of the Transformer 3 confirmed rumours of the existence of a convertible Corvette Stingray Concept. A convertible Corvette is one of the most iconic sports cars in American motoring history, so it won't be surprising to see that a convertible version of the Stingray Concept to appear next. Officially however, GM is mum about plans for a new Corvette or its design direction.
A speedster body is slightly different from a regular convertible - at most, a speedster only has a very rudimentary soft top that needs to be manually installed and can only be driven at low speeds. That is, assuming that the car even has any top at all. While convertibles, even at its most basic (or high performance lightweight package) form will have a foldable fabric top that can be easily pulled up, either manually or electrically and still be able to drive a reasonably fast speed.
A little unknown fact to most petrolheads however, is that the Corvette Stingray Concept, stunning as it seems, was not designed by an American, but a Korean. Sangyup Lee was born and raised in Korea but received his post-grad education in transportation design in Pasadena, California. Thereafter, he have had stints with Porsche AG and Pininfarina and is currently employed by the VW Group as of the Chief Designer of Exterior at the Volkswagen/Audi Advanced studio in California. The current C6 Corvette is also penned by Sangyup Lee.
Sangyup Lee and the result of his work
Sangyup Lee's sketch for the Corvette Stingray Concept
The Corvette is not the only iconic American sports car that was given a new lease of life by non-Americans. The Mustang had a Vietnamese as its chief engineer; Hau Thai-Tang. It just goes to show that nationality, or even race should never be a criteria as long as the individual gets the job done really well.
Hau Thai-Tang, chief engineer, Ford Mustang.
The Stingray Concept retains the most iconic (and controversial) feature of the original Corvette Sting Ray cars - a split view rear window. Later models of the Corvette Sting Ray however had regular one piece windows, for obvious practical reasons. The Corvette however is not the only car with a split view rear window. Classic car fans will know that the original VW Beetle also came with a split rear window.
Get ready to book your tickets for Transformers 3 this July!
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