GM Shares Photos of Long Lost Four-Seat C2 Corvette Concept
In 1962, with the Ford Thunderbird outselling the Corvette, GM came up with this four-seat C2 Corvette model.
The Corvette has always been a two-seat sports car, though a small handful of aftermarket companies have transformed them into four-door family haulers. But that doesn’t mean General Motors hasn’t at least considered selling a two-door Corvette with four seats, as we can clearly see from this four-seat C2 Corvette concept created back in 1962. GM Design shared a handful of photos of the since-crushed concept on its Instagram page recently, and needless to say, they’re rather fascinating to look at.
GM notes that the four-seat C2 Corvette concept was created specifically as a response to the Ford Thunderbird, a four-seat sports car itself, which was actually outselling the Corvette at this point in time. Thus, then head of GM Ed Cole asked designer Larry Shinoda to come up with a four-seat version of the then-new C2, who proceeded to use a 2+2 Ferrari from that era as inspiration, according to an article published in the December 2007 edition of Corvette Fever magazine.
Adding a back seat to the C2 Corvette obviously required stretching the car a bit, and unlike many other 2+2 sports cars out there in the world, GM wanted its back seat to be suitable for adults. Thus, this concept is quite a bit longer than a regular C2, as we can clearly see from the side view photo provided.
Interestingly, however, GM exec Bunkie Knudsen – who was heavily involved with the project – wound up rejecting the idea, and he proceeded to convince the automaker’s vice president at the time, Bud Goodman, that it should be scrapped. That effort worked, and just a few days later, Goodman canceled the four-seat Corvette endeavor, saying that aside from “tainting the brand,” GM believed that few would actually buy such a vehicle.
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It seems that the four-seat C2 concept didn’t make it too far anyway, as GM describes the car as a “fiberglass model” that apparently wasn’t equipped with any sort of powertrain. As for the model itself, GM eventually crushed it, and now all we have are a handful of historical photos to remember it by. Regardless, much like the mid-engine Corvette we thought we’d never see make it to production, it’s fun to wonder if this ages-old idea might actually one day become reality.
Photos: General Motors
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