Chevrolet may be breaking with tradition by switching the highly anticipated next-generation to a mid-engined layout. But it still knows who its biggest fans are, and it gave them a little taste of things to come late last week.

With the faithful gathered for the Michelin NCM Bash, Chevy brought out its still-camouflaged prototype for the upcoming C8 to the National Corvette Museum, just down the road from the plant where it'll soon begin assembly in Bowling Green, Kentucky. And judging by the roar of the crowd (if not the engine), it did not disappoint.

Sponsored by Michelin, the NCM Bash is traditionally the first even of the season at the National Corvette Museum, bringing out Chevrolet and GM Performance personnel to demonstrate what they're working on and answer questions from the most dedicated 'Vette enthusiasts.

To kick off the festivities on Thursday, assembly-plant body-shop manager Jon Andrews drove the thinly disguised C8 prototype through Gate B on the museum grounds and around the "logo circle" to the delight of the gathered fans, revving the engine along the way and pegging the throttle on the exit back down Corvette Drive.

Just across the interstate, General Motors is gearing up to start producing the new eighth-generation, mid-engined supercar at the plant that's been home to the Corvette since 1981 – investing a third of a billion dollars into the site and hiring more workers to build the thing.

The C8 Corvette is slated to debut on July 18, when Chevy will finally pull the veil off the finished product and usher in a new era of all-American performance. We can hardly wait until it does, and from the look of it, neither can the fans in its home town.