The man in charge of styling the next Chevrolet Corvette says the pressure is on to make sure one of America’s most iconic sports cars continues its successful lineage.

Former Holden design boss Mike Simcoe – now based in Detroit and the head of design for General Motors – is believed to be entrenched in the final design and sign off of the Corvette expected to be known as the C8, replacing the current C7 generation.

Simcoe also led the design of the born again Holden Monaro – shown as the Commodore Coupe concept in 1998 before going on sale in 2001 – and says styling a Corvette is a monumental task.

2017-Chevrolet -Corvette -C8-front -side

“Being part of a Covette design is very exciting for everyone involved and there certainly will be a next generation Corvette at some point.”

2017-Chevrolet -Corvette -C8-driving -front -side

“Certainly there’s a lot more emotional pressure when you’re doing something like a Corvette.”

2017-Chevrolet -Corvette -C8-driving -rear -side

“The Monaro, the emotional pressure there was that in its early days nobody knew about it,” said Simcoe.

2017-Chevrolet -Corvette -C8-interior

Holden has already confirmed it will sell a V8-powered sports car in future, with insiders pointing to the Corvette as that car.