In June of 2014, we reported that General Motors trademarked the name “Zora” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
On December 12th, GM renewed that trademark citing pertinence to “motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles.”
We are expecting a high performance version of the upcoming 2020 mid-engine Corvette to be called Zora, but at this time, we’ve had no official confirmation of the intended use of the trademark.
Last quarter, GM was busy at the USPTO registering various patents that could potentially be used on the upcoming Corvette. The most recent being a patent for electronically controlled doors that could have benefits of controlling door movement upon opening and closing during high wind situations and inclines/declines.
While many in the automotive media were quick to assume that we could see this on the upcoming mid-engine Corvette because a referencing graphic of a C7 was used in the patent, it’s my assumption that it’s highly unlikely we would see something like this on the mid-engine Corvette.
Since the introduction of the C7 Corvette generation, the Corvette Engineering Team has worked diligently to take the weight out of the car in order to maximize performance. It’s our opinion here at the Corvette Action Center, that the integration of motors, servos and sensors to electronically control door operation on the Corvette has zero benefit to performance and would contribute to an unnecessary increase in overall curb weight.
If the doors of the mid-engine Corvette will be designed in such a way that they would open close like a Lamborghini or some of the other high-end exotic sports cars out there, then such a system might prove useful. As of this writing we have no indication that the doors of the mid-engine Corvette will operate in this manner.
Time will tell!