Just months after a GM’s all-new British design studio wowed enthusiasts with the first official next-gen Corvette Concept, GM’s California-based design studio reveals their C10 Corvette Concept. GM’s Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena, California, which only just opened in 2023, shows everyone their futuristic take on America’s sports car. Although this is strictly a design study with no production intent, the California Corvette Concept explores what a future Corvette, possibly a post-C9-generation model, could look like through a distinctly Southern California lens.

The sleek concept shares little with the clinical, split-window U.K. design shown earlier this year. While that one recalled a McLaren-like precision with retro nods, this California version is all about curves, fluidity, and presence on real-world streets. Look closely at the front fender and you’ll find a “C10” logo, which is perhaps a quiet nod to what comes after the current generation.

With its dramatic proportions, including rear wheels pushed to the corners and wide hips cinched near the engine bay, the concept makes a bold first impression. According to Pasadena studio design director Brian Smith, the idea was to create a Corvette that blends local SoCal vibes with global design thinking.

“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.”

Though renderings show the California Corvette with the canopy on, interior sketches hint at its modular potential. As imagined, this concept would be powered by a T-shaped prismatic battery pack, making it a fully electric vehicle, though that drivetrain remains entirely fictional. GM confirms the concept is a design-only model, not a functioning prototype.

Even if this Corvette never hits production, the idea isn’t as far-fetched as it may seem. After all, GM has already shocked purists by moving the Corvette’s engine behind the driver with the C8 and now it’s developing 1,000-plus horsepower ZR1 variants and working toward electrification. In that context, a sleek, EV-based hypercar with SoCal style doesn’t feel so far off the mark.

GM also teased that another Corvette concept will debut before the end of the year, continuing the brand’s recent tradition of design-led innovation. If the California Concept is any indication, Corvette’s future is not just fast, it’s forward-thinking.