Next Generation Corvette To Put The Thrust Behind Your Butt?

Oftentimes insane Peter De Lorenzo at Autoextremist thinks so-

But after my conversations late last week with executives at the top of the company (who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons), I can tell you that the "idea" of a mid-engined "C7" Corvette has not only progressed far beyond the initial planning stages, the engineering on the car is well underway.

What's the impetus for such a drastic change in philosphy?

Apparently the forces behind the decision think they can make it work from a cost effectiveness standpoint, and they also feel it is needed to stay current in racing series and to re-establish and enhance GM as a technological leader.

...

Wait a second. All three of those reasons sound like perfectly legitimate business reasons to move ahead with the project. This is GM right?

The Nicest Dealership You'll Ever See

Are you actually surprised that it's a Lexus? Lexus Bellevue to be exact. I'm officially a little bit depressed that their customer waiting lounge(s) have far nicer furniture than anything in my home. Not to mention multiple flat screen televisions. Oh, and a garage that I didn't even have the capacity to dream about until today. Did I mention the escalators? Or the hotel lobby thing? Just amazing.

Original link from The Car Lounge, with pictures from Car Domain (lots more pictures at the Car Domain link):

Rolls-Royce Breathes A Sigh Of Relief- Chrysler Imperial Shelved

Apparently not happy with pillaging most Bentley styling cues with their Chrysler 300C sedan, a few years ago Chrysler decided to wade into deeper, more staid and upright waters- pillaging styling cues from Rolls-Royce. Perhaps emboldened by their then German taskmasters, who wanted to steal Bentley/Audi/VW thunder, they came out with the monstrosity pictured above, the Imperial.

What was the Imperial? A further stretched version of the 300C, with suicide rear doors, and a look that suggested it was straining to release a bowel movement. Probably not a good look for a vehicle destined to cost upwards of $50k US I think.

Seems like the current crop of Chrysler execs took a dose of Metamucil and came to the same conclusion, accord to the Toronto Star-

Chrysler confirmed yesterday that it has decided not to proceed with production of the bulky luxury car at the Brampton assembly plant.

Ed Saenz, manager of corporate communications for DaimlerChrysler Canada, attributed the demise of the project to escalating gasoline prices and more government regulations on fuel economy, which would cut into the vehicle’s popularity.

Read 'escalating gasoline prices' as 'we focus grouped this thing and people turned to stone', and 'government regulations on fuel economy' as 'we would need 2 Hemi engines to move this behemoth around', and you'd probably get a better idea of what Mr. Saenz was trying to say.