INTRODUCING THE CALIFORNIA CORVETTE CONCEPT
GM’s Advanced Design studios in Pasadena reveals the California Corvette concept as part of a global design project. GM says the concept reimagines the Corvette with a futuristic, Southern California twist and reflects GM’s deep roots in the SoCal design community.
By The Editors
Thu, Jul 24, 2025 10:00 AM PST
Featured image above: GM's Advanced Design Studios in Pasadena, California debuted its California Corvette concept (image courtesy of the GM Media Center).
“We invited multiple GM studios to envision Corvette-inspired hypercars — the first of which was revealed by our UK studio in March, said Bryan Nesbitt, GM’s vice president of global design. “The California team has now delivered a complementary study that honors Corvette’s legendary performance, while infusing it with their own distinctive vision.”
The California Corvette concept pays homage to Corvette’s heritage, but with a distinct Southern California flavor. GM says there is no production intent behind this design study, but its Pasadena team embraced this project as a blank slate to reimagine what the Corvette could be.
“Southern California has been at the heart of automotive and design culture for a century, and GM has had a deep design presence here for nearly 40 years. We wanted to ensure that this concept was developed through that SoCal lens, but with a global and futuristic outlook. Duality of purpose is the basis of this concept’s design strategy,” said Brian Smith, design director, GM Advanced Design Pasadena.
“The defining design aspect is the single-piece, front-hinged canopy than enables the entire upper shell to be removed, transforming the concept from an agile, slick sports car to a lightweight, open-air track car,” adds Smith.
GM says the designers sought to blend racing-simulator graphics with iconic Corvette cues. Thus, the exterior proportions – wide at the wheels with a narrow, tapered cabin and a narrow cockpit – are meant to reflect classic Corvette DNA, while the single-piece front-hinged canopy makes for a lightweight, open-air track car.
The minimalist interior centers on the driver, with integrated structural elements and performance-focused displays. An augmented-reality HUD enhances high-speed driving with only the most essential data displayed.
Our Take on the California Corvette Concept
Car design seems to swing back and forth from edgy, knife-cutting lines to curvy, organic shapes. The pendulum is currently in hovering in the edgy territory with designs like the Peralta S designed by Fabrizio Giugiaro, while the California Corvette concept clearly goes deep into the organic end of things. With the California Corvette, GM’s Pasadena team is not afraid to flex its chutzpah by flying in the face of current trends.
About GM’s Advanced Design Studios in Pasadena
The GM studios in Pasadena encompass a 148,000-square-foot campus spread across three buildings and housing about 130 staff, spanning design, creative, facilities, operations, sculpting, fabrication and artisans. It’s fully equipped for advanced design, development, physical modeling and builds, and it plays a key role in GM’s global design network, which spans studios in Detroit, Shanghai, Seoul, the UK and Los Angeles.
California Corvette Concept
Technical Specifications and Assumptions
Body structure:
Tunneled underbody with lightweight carbon tub
Active aero spoiler and air brake
Large, staggered wheels – 21” front wheels and 22” rear wheels
Assumed T-shape prismatic battery pack - enabling low seating and better airflow around and through the chassis
