The upcoming C8 Corvette is going to be controversial, that much is certain. And why wouldn't it? After decades of rumors and concepts that never materialized to production versions, the iconic Chevrolet Corvette is going from a front- to a mid-engine setup.

Die-hard Corvette fans, needless to say, probably won't be too pleased. Those with, shall we say, a more progressive attitude, will likely welcome the new approach to America's favorite sports car. Why the major change? Because Chevrolet and GM want the Corvette to be a true contender on the sports and supercar world stage. And why shouldn't it?

Now that the Dodge Viper has been laid to rest for likely the final time, America needs a homegrown high-performance machine that can effectively challenge Porsches, McLarens, and even a few Ferraris. GM's engineers, in this case led by Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter, ultimately concluded going mid-engine would be the only way to accomplish this. Zora Arkus-Duntov, the "Father of the Corvette" who had pushed for mid-engine during his long GM career, would likely wholeheartedly approve.

And just a few short months before its expected debut at Detroit this January, these latest rendered C8 images have been brought to our attention, courtesy of MidEngineCorvetteForum.com and created by rendering artist "bdsvavars".

It's pretty obvious they're based on the latest C8 spy shots, though a few styling liberties had to be taken, such as a few body panel angles and other smaller though no less significant details. Generally speaking, we like it… but as a mid-engined high-performance sports car. We'll have to wait and see what the actual production car looks like until we make a final judgment. What we very much do like is what will be directly behind the driver and passenger: an updated and more powerful version of the C7's LT1 V8 with at least 500 hp.

Later on in the C8's lifetime, a 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 with at least 550 hp is expected, as is a new naturally aspirated 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8 with upwards of 600 hp. Rumor also has it that a pair of turbos will one day also be attached to the latter V8, for a total of around 800 hp. Further down the line, a front-mounted electric motor could be added which, when combined with the twin-turbo V8, allow for 1,000 vicious horsepower. But that's all in the future. Today is right now and these latest C8 renderings are probably not too dramatically different from the real deal. Opinions welcome.