Under the guidance of GM’s Rich McBride (right), Rick Hendrick in 2011 builds the engine that will go into his new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Carbon Edition.
GM is moving its Performance Build Center from Michigan to the Bowling Green Assembly Plant where the Chevrolet Corvette is assembled. The center allows customers to build their own specialty engines for installation in GM vehicles. Another part of the unique program – at least in the past – combined a factory-engineered Chevy aftermarket crate engine that was built by custom car builders and hot rodders.
The Performance Build Center has also been the source for the 6.2-liter LS3 V8 engine, which powers the Corvette Grand Sport Coupe manual version; the 7-liter LS7 V8 engine for the Corvette Z06 and the 6.2-liter Supercharged LS9 engine for the Corvette ZR1. Details on which engines will be available for customer assembly will be announced in the future.
The move, along with a $3.5 million investment, is scheduled for the first quarter of 2014, and is part of a larger consolidation of GM Powertrain engineering sites. This will eventually allow Corvette customers to combine the experience of watching their Corvette being assembled with participating in the build of their vehicle’s high-performance engine.
See:
- 2014 Corvette Sting Ray Builds on C6 with a new 7-Speed manual, Cylinder Deactivation for a Front Engine, Rear-Drive V8 Sports Car
- Milestones: GM Builds 100 Million Small Block V8 Engines
- Build Your Own LS7, LS9 Chevrolet V8 Crate Engine
