The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette will bring changes big and small to the iconic Americn performance nameplate. Chevy finally owned the worst-kept secret in automotive history when it confirmed the C8 ‘Vette’s mid-engined migration earlier this year, and today it’s showing off the next generation of the Corvette’s historically unique logo.
Compared to the outgoing, front-engined C7, the C8 logo adds a sharper pitch to the V-shaped design by removing the notch at the bottom and pressing the two branches closer together. There are a few other changes—the pattern on the checkered flag is reversed and darkened, there’s no longer a small line beneath the fleur-de-lis, and the Chevrolet logo is outlined in black rather than silver—but it’s a decidedly cautious update compared to what GM is doing with the new Corvette powertrain.
Chevrolet’s halo cars have been graced with their own emblems since the very first Polo White convertible rolled off the line in June of 1953, and the automaker put out a neat animation showing how they’ve changed over the decades.
What started as friendly pair of interlocking flags—one checkered, one bearing the Chevy cross and a fleur-de-lis to honor company founder Louis Chevrolet—has since evolved into a more abstract, angular semaphore leaning heavily into the current car’s high-performance aspirations. This latest version looks to further that image with its raked-back style.
It’s also helping to set the stage for the Corvette name’s inevitable expansion. The National Corvette Museum’s Facebook page posted a brief clip showing how the logo will be used in the car’s infotainment and gauge cluster startup animations, which includes the phrase “Corvette by Chevrolet.” If that’s not some ’50s Chrysler Imperial-level branding we don’t know what is. There have been rumors of a Corvette crossover in the past—hey, don’t shoot the messenger.
The mid-engined, new-logo’d 2020 Chevrolet Corvette will finally emerge from its camouflaged cocoon on July 18. Look for more information to dribble out before then.