The designer works his Monday morning quarterback magic on the 1997-2004 'Vette.
Coming off the C4 Corvette, Chevrolet could've done just about anything to make the fifth-gen Corvette look good, but as the C5 ages and subsequent designs get edgier and sportier, Chip Foose works his magic to breathe some life into this car's design. Instead of trying to reimagine what a production C5 could have looked like back in 1997, he instead gives the car a custom makeover.
Aside from the mechanicals, Foose doesn't seem to be too fond of this Corvette's design as he called it "soft," "doughy" and "lazy" with a "heavy rear end," but as he points out, though, today's designers have a lot of "hand holding." For him, that isn't the case with designing a custom car since he says there are no rules in customizing a car. To get started, he creates a loose sketch of his idea, and while this is just a single rendering, he says that he would normally draw a large number of sketches to come up with various options if he were doing a custom design for a client.
The nose of the C5 stays about the same as its production design, but Foose adds different side vents in the front and rear fenders as well as a wraparound windshield with dual roll bars and matching dual rear wings. Foose alters the rear end to reveal more of a bullet-shaped design, and the car is given a sportier stance that still has real-world driving in mind.
Once he finalizes his idea, he then transfers it to another sheet and then adds color and definition to come up with his final product. If you watched Foose redesign the first-gen Bronco, his vision for the C5 Corvette is arguably far better. In addition to seeing Foose's idea for the fifth-gen 'Vette, he also gives his thoughts on the mid-engine C8 Corvette.
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Steven Symes
Steven Symes
