2020 Chevrolet Corvette won't honor Zora Arkus-Duntov

It will use a familiar name.

Information about the eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette is trickling out ahead of its official debut on July 18. Chevrolet ended months -- years, actually -- of rampant rumors and wild speculation by confirming the car's name.

The 2019 Corvette Stingray will be replaced by the 2020 Corvette Stingray. It's as simple and straight-forward as that. Earlier reports claimed the model would be called Zora, and not because engineers played a lot of Zelda during the development process. Zora Arkus-Duntov, the Corvette's chief engineer during the 1960s and the 1970s, spent the bulk of his career fruitlessly trying to convince members of the General Motors management team to make the model mid-engined, turbocharged, or preferably both.

Arkus-Duntov very nearly got his way on several occasions; Chevrolet even chopped up a Porsche 914/6 to create a mid-engined, Wankel-powered, Pininfarina-designed Corvette concept in 1973. He never received the proverbial green light to make his mid-engined dreams a reality, however, and many thought his plans to take the 'Vette into supercar territory should be checked rather than cultivated. Chevrolet execs finally caved and decided to re-invent the Corvette as a mid-engined brute for the 1980 model year but Arkus-Duntov had retired and his replacement, Dave McLellan, quite liked things the way they were and wished for them to remain that way.

Back to the road, folks: the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will make its debut on July 18 during an event that starts at 7:30 pm in Los Angeles. Production will begin shortly after, and sales will begin for the 2020 model year. We expect the shift from a front- to a mid-mounted engine will warrant a noticeable price increase (its unveiling is in super-swank Los Angeles, for Chrissake!), but Chevrolet hasn't released pricing information yet.