Best look yet at midengine Chevy Corvette

Spy photos of the long-rumored and much-discussed midengine Chevrolet Corvette illustrate just how much of a departure the new sports car would be in terms of design and engineering.

The photos -- taken at one of General Motors' winter-testing facilities -- show the midengine Corvette with a lower hood line, longer rear deck and much shorter dash-to-axle ratio than the current C7 Corvette.

Although the vehicle is heavily camouflaged, key design features, such as taillights and the exhaust layout, are visible in the photos.

It remains unclear where a midengine Corvette would stand in Chevy's performance lineup and whether it would replace or coexist with the C7.

In August, The Detroit News, citing multiple sources, reported GM plans to begin selling a midengine Corvette in early 2019.

The Corvette continues to attract mostly older buyers, and GM is eager to switch to a midengine layout to win younger consumers, the paper said. 

A switch to a midengine layout would entail a major overhaul of the C7. Almost no parts could be carried over because nearly all of the major components on a midengine car would be in different locations. 

Switching from a front to midengine layout would entail engineering a new chassis; creating a new transaxle to drive the rear wheels; developing new cooling, air-conditioning and suspension systems; and designing a new body. 

A midengine Corvette would give GM a true competitor to Ford's midengine GT supercar as well as supercars from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.

Richard Truett and Autoweek contributed to this report.