Every now and then, GM powers come up with a family-friendly, four-door Corvette concept. The same perception is enough to sicken even the strongest stomach Corvette fanatic, but low and lo and behold, the Fourvette is born.

This time around, the notion of a four-door Corvette is more than just words and GM has made a concept car version of what the production Fourvette might look like. Hopefully this is how far the Fourvette goes, but it’s certainly not the end of the upset you’ll feel in the pit of your stomach when you hear the next piece of information about the Fourvette.

In addition to the four doors, the Fourvette will include a six-cylinder engine. This is supposed to be marketing to America’s women, but if they can drive football’s big mom’s V8 SUVs, why can’t they drive a V8 Corvette? A more appropriate question is why are you considering such a vehicle?

Here is the problem. Last year, Porsche came out with a four-door called the Panamera, and while it looks like a stretched-out turtle, the sales are incredible. So amazing that GM is thinking of doing the same. However, the birth of the Fourvette could be the death of the Corvette.

Owning a Corvette has always been something you do as a reward for yourself. You don’t buy a Vette to carry the kids to soccer practice right before you hit the grocery store. In fact, the mere sight of an infant seat inside a Corvette would be enough to exile you with your Corvette club.

Now it seems that GM may want to curb everything the Corvette has come to be in its nearly 60 years of existence and redefine it as a family car. So will the great American icon become the great family icon? It’s not to say that women can’t own Corvettes, but why does the Corvette have to be a four-door, six-cylinder?

Hopefully, this is all there is to it, and perhaps GM is just doing it to gain some notoriety and some publicity. The last time a four-door Corvette became a concept was in 1963 and if it weren’t for the images of that four-door Corvette, no one would have believed the story. While it is up for debate why that model never made it to the production line, the fact is that it never made it to the production line.

In 1963, GM was smart enough to destroy that version of the four-door Corvette and say, “What a four-door, we don’t have four doors,” so hopefully they’ll be just as wise with the Fourvette. While the name is clever, the notion of an actual four-door Corvette being put into production is anything but. While a picture is worth a thousand words, a picture of the Fourvette is only worth three; no, thanks.