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  • Don't jump! Rotary-engine 'Vette prototype saved from rooftop

    Filed under: Concept Cars , Coupes , Etc. , Chevrolet , GM , UK Back in the 70s, GM was looking to take its much beloved Corvette to the next level. The General charged John DeLorean with investigating the possibility of putting a mid-engine rotary under hood, and the 1973 GM XP897 was the culmination of his efforts. The steel-bodied Vette was built atop a Porsche 914 chassis, and GM poured millions into R&D. The problem was that the Rotary engine was just as thirsty as America's much loved V8, and it was an emissions failure. GM deemed the XP897 a lost cause, and the Pantera look-alike was relegated to an eternal parking spot on the 10th story roof-top of the Vauxhall design building. Luckily for Corvette lovers everywhere, Englishman and Corvette historian Tom Falconer went out of his way to save the car he loved. Falconer received a phone call from former one-time Jaguar design chief Geoff Lawson about a steel-bodied Vette that was about to meet its maker. To save the XP897,...

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