In 1976, the 1973 Corvette 4-Rotor concept was taken out of storage and renamed the AeroVette. The double rotary engine was replaced with a transversally mounted 400 CID V8 engine.
Bill Mitchell, Vice President of Design, lobbied for the AeroVette as the next Corvette and GM chairman and CEO, Thomas Murphy actually approved the Aerovette for 1980 production. In the end, management decided that they were selling every fiberglass bodied, front engine V8 "traditional" Corvette they could build, so why make a huge risky investment in a mid-engine car. The Aerovette project was cancelled and the Aerovette is now part of the GM collection at the GM Heritage Center.
Source: Bill Bowman, wiki.gmnext.com