 |
1973 Chevrolet Corvette Four Rotor
Chevrolet Corvette Four Rotor, 1973
Chevrolet Corvette Four Rotor, 1973
Chevrolet Corvette Four Rotor, 1973
Chevrolet Corvette Four Rotor, 1973
Chevrolet XP-882 Four Rotor, 1973
Chevrolet Corvette Four Rotor, 1973
Chevrolet Corvette 4 Rotors, 1973
Images: www.shorey.net
1973 Corvette 4-Rotors / 1976 AeroVette Mid-Engine Prototype
Representing another Corvette, this concept wins a place on the list because of its powertrain choice, a four-rotor Wankel, and its stunning mid-engine styling. The car debuted at the Paris Auto Salon in 1973, during a period where American performance was being stifled by the twin evils of restrictive insurance practices and the first Arab oil embargo. At the time, performance enthusiasts didn’t have much to be enthusiastic about as engine compression ratios were coming down and quarter-mile times were going up.
Into this landscape came the Corvette Four-Rotor. Aggressively styled, the design features radical aerodynamics and gull-wing doors. Horsepower output from the four-rotor Wankel engine was said to be considerable. Many elements of the design were considered for production, but nearly all were deemed too expensive or impractical. Had GM made a different choice, perhaps Chevrolet would have fielded something as arresting as the original Lamborghini Countach LP4000.
In subsequent years in a move that smacks of "what have you done for me lately," GM swapped out the Wankel for a small-block V-8 and renamed the car "AeroVette".
The AeroVette is currently part of The GM Historical Collection.
www.thecarconnection.com
The same XP-882 that had been shown in New York in 1970 served as the basis for this Wankel motor prototype. Under Bill Mitchell, Henry Haga was responsible for it’s design. Called the "Four-Rotor Car", it was arguably more stunning than the Two-Rotor XP-897GT, that appeared a bit later in 1972. Built on the first XP-882 chassis under the aegis of company design chief Bill Mitchell, it carried a pair of GM's experimental two-rotor engines bolted together into a 420 horsepower "super Wankel." A Corvette-like face and obvious high performance potential were taken as strong suggestions that GM was brewing a radical new Corvette for the late Seventies or early Eighties.
GM design chief Bill Mitchell kept its original lines intact, however — not that there was reason to fiddle. Charles Jordan oversaw the design, which included radical bifold gullwing doors, and deformable plastic body-colored nose and tail sections which are common today, but revolutionary in the mid-1970's. The sterling silver paint, with silver leather interior and forged alloy turbine wheels later seen on the 1978 Corvette Indy Pace Car, gave the Corvette a space craft like appearance unmatched by any other advanced sports car. The interior was more fully engineered than the show-car norm, another indication this model was indeed a serious production prospect.
The car debuted at the Paris Auto Salon in 1973, during a period where American performance was being stifled by the twin evils of restrictive insurance practices and the first Arab oil embargo. At the time, performance enthusiasts didn’t have much to be enthusiastic about as engine compression ratios were coming down and quarter-mile times were going up.
Bill Mitchell, the ardent Corvette styling department magnate, gave the car a new life by removing the Wankel engine and reinstalling a small-block Chevrolet V8 and christening it the AeroVette. A stunningly dramatic looking car, it was promoted as the new 4th generation Corvette for 1980, but never saw series production...
The AeroVette is currently part of The GM Historical Collection.
Mario van Ginneken - www.corvettes.nl
Назначение этого автомобиля было определено заранее, причем очень строго: Chevrolet AeroVette - исключительно экспериментальный шоу-кар. И поэтому никто, глядя на него, не должен сомневаться в том, что в обозримом будущем на всех автомобилях Corvette сохранится классическая компоновочная схема: двигатель спереди, а привод - на задние колеса. Дело в том, что в AeroVette 6,5-литровый двигатель V8 разместили поперечно в базе, за спинками сидений.
На момент же выставочной премьеры машины, на Парижском автосалоне осенью 1973 года, здесь стоял четырехсекционный роторный двигатель объемом 4 литра. Кстати, в том же году, двумя неделями раньше, во Франкфурте был показан другой Corvette, тоже оснащенный роторным двигателем Ванкеля, но с двумя рабочими секциями (роторами).
В самом названии AeroVette отражено то, что автомобиль подвергся серьезной аэродинамической проработке. После многочисленных испытаний в аэродинамической трубе удалось достичь невиданного по тем временам для машин такого класса значения коэффициента аэродинамического сопротивления: 0,325. Автомобиль был очень низким - 108 см. Его длина составляла 479, а ширина - 182 см. Все кузовные панели изготовлены из стекловолокна.
AeroVette был оснащен независимыми подвесками и дисковыми тормозами на всех колесах.
АВТОРЕВЮ N 3 (142) 1997 "НЕЗНАКОМЫЙ CORVETTE"
|
|
|