2003 Chevrolet Corvette Moray Concept - Italdesign
(from
Italdesign Press Release) The Moray
project, which will be presented for the first time at the Geneva
Motor Show on March 4, 2003, embodies the homage that Giorgetto and
Fabrizio Giugiaro wish to pay to the fifty-year era of the Chevrolet
Corvette, the supreme symbol of the American sports car.
Realized without hesitation on Corvette mechanics and chassis, the
outcome of seeking out a sports car designed as an elegant extreme
leaps into the limelight carrying a pure profile, designed as though
touched by drifting tides with long and slender front lights,
bringing immediately to the mind the Moray, the English term for the
eel-type fish, muraena helena, found in Mediterranean waters.
Also resembling a moray rippling through sea waters is the sinuous
contour line, whilst shaping the elongated front section – an
unmistakable look of the Corvette grille – to a far stronger, more
accentuated curvature is the serpentine bonnet (which projects
frontward) forming a contrast with the upraised cut-off tail.
“We vowed to honor the rhetorical principles that dictated the
American muscle-car of excellence era: simplicity and pragmatism,
handlasting with the hedonist concept of sportiness evolving beyond
the restraints of time”, explain Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro.
Hinged to the rear door frame, thereby assuring freedom of access to
the inside of the car, the clear crystal semi-dome of the doors – by
which the side window and roof merge into one complete unit – swings
open like a seagull on wing. Quick and simple to remove, these door
wings ease the way to transforming the Moray from a coupé, with its
unmistakable roof panel under the unique, clear crystal dome, into a
quasi roadster. The direct, immediate feeling of fresh-air motoring
is enhanced by removing the B door frame. This is replaced by a
central arch-shaped steel structure to which the two wings are
hinged.
In perfect symbiosis with the fresh and free extreme of the car,
there are no side-mirrors, which have been replaced by a telecamera
system with dashboard-integrated viewers.
The bodyshell and paintwork color blends into the capsule, becoming
one and the same. Only those surfaces inside the car touched by the
driver or passenger are warmed by soft leather upholstery made with
the cooperation of Dräxlmaier Group.
Essential to catering the needs and preferences of the dynamic
driver are dashboardfitted instruments. Underlined by the same
dashboard layout, assigned to the passenger are precise co-pilot
functions.
Cool, sleek and supremely agile, of exceptional beauty and
legerdemain like the sea creature from which it takes its name, the
Moray is fitted with a powerful Chevrolet Corvette V8 engine, the
longitude front-mounted six-liter, which reaches command of more
than 400 horsepower, combined with a perfect balance ensured from
the ground up by Michelin Pilot sport 335/30 ZR20 rear tyres.