[NickJ]

Obviously from the photo watermark, these photos are from Car and Driver, that being said, they are reporting that these photos are of the heavily camouflaged Chevrolet Corvette Z07. C&D predicts that this car will come along in the latter part of 2016.

They are speculating an awful lot in the article linked above, but the author speaks in an almost omniscient knowing manner. Does C&D have some sort of exclusive knowledge that the rest of us with our feet firmly planted on Earth are not privy to? Interesting.

That being said, they gush about the business continuity planning that Chevy has used in the past when slight upgrades in performance or packaging have donned a new "Z" moniker. With the revolutionary stance that the C7 has taken in the market for Chevy, a new "Z" moniker would only make sense with the new high performance (as if the current performance wasn't something to stand in awe of) model.

As for the C7 platform capabilities, the completely redesigned car will surely be able to hold the extra power and performance. Chevy seems to have had their 5 year glasses on, and engineered this car with room to grow. I say good for them! The current car is a marvel to behold for sure. As with any new generation, there will be the inevitable patches and tweaks. Engineers cannot think of every illogical way that every nob and crank will be used by the end user.

The GM pushrod V-8 is beginning to look more and more like Lazarus of Bethany with every passing year. At a time when engines are getting more and more complicated to push out extra power with smaller displacements, the team at GM seem to dust off the 60 year old plans, and see how they can make it work with what they have on the engine stand already. Slapping variable valve timing on it, moving the injection point, cylinder deactivation. They certainly have not thrown the baby out with the bath water, and they are keeping it for the Z07 as well. Though for this go round, we may see another technology bolted to the push rod workhorse. For the first time, Chevy may tend toward the power of forced induction, but in lieu of a supercharger, a turbo charger. The recently unveiled El Mirage from Cadillac boasted a twin turbo charged 4.5 liter V-8.

As in every "Z" Corvette to date, the hand shaker transmission is the go to over the less fun automatic, the Z07 will be just the same, by tapping the Tremec TR-6070 7 Speed manual trans for the delivery of around 600 bhp to the decidedly bigger Michelin's out back. To reign in all those horses, Brembo will supply some carbon ceramic discs to sit inside the lightened wheels.

If you thought the outgoing Z06 was worth a few pennies, strap on your hats, and grab your seats. The Z07 may just be in the neighborhood of $100K. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. I wonder who Chevy is gunning for with those figures?