For those of us who can remember, magazines were the holy grail for car guys and nothing was better than a headline shouting out from a news rack “Secret Mid-Engined Corvette Spied!” All the big kahuna car mags of the day could count on such a cover story to be the best selling issue of the year. Even when the web took over, and click bait entered the pop lexicon, mid-engine Corvette spy shots are the still sizzle that pegs the needle.

Now all of a sudden, after decades of schlepping magazine copies and grabbing mouse clicks, it looks like a mid-engined Corvette is coming our way. Over at GMInsideNews, forum member MonaroSS is showing off some pretty skillful renders of what the new C8/ZR1 Corvette might look like.

At first glance, these photochopped/manipulated images look to be the real deal. The front fender vent has been flipped over and is now an intake for the engine compartment/radiator and the cowl has scooted up closer to the front axle. We all know that locating the engine in the center allows better power transfer and neutral handling but the end result is the blueprint dictates the look of the car. After all these years of waiting, we have to realize that a mid-engine C8 will look like other mid-engined cars and Ed Welburn’s guys have their work cut out for them to make the Zora stand out among the Lambos and Ferraris. We love and embrace a new range topping model for the Corvette line, but we’re suckers for the new C7 and old school front engined, rear wheel drive performance and styling.

It doesn’t help that Ford just introduced the new GT at the Detroit Auto Show and rewrites many rules, especially what a mid-engined car should look like. We’re sure the Bow Tie guys are paying close attention to this car and will position the new C8/Zora as the King of the mid-engined hill. We’ll have to wait and see what the next chapter is for a mid-engine Corvette but one thing is for sure. Like Sasquatch or a unicorn, half the fun is in the chase and speculation. Now that we finally have the real deal coming, auto mag editors may soon lose one of the all time great, guaranteed results headline ever created.