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GM applies for LT5, LTX trademarks... are new small block variants coming?

Recently discovered General Motors trademark applications for LT4, LT5, LT88 and LTX have observers wondering what kind of high-performance offerings could be on their way. A new LT4 would mark a return of the engine designation first used on the Corvette Grand Sport, SLP Pontiac Firehawk and SLP Chevrolet Camaro SS from 1996 and 1997. Supposition at Corvette Forum - which provided advance intel on the C7 like these leaked images - believes a new LT4 could go into the high-performance trim of the next-gen, 2015 Camaro that would be more powerful than the 580-horsepower Camaro ZL1.
Seeing an LT5 again would also be déjà vu - in its former life it was a 5.7-liter V8 for the C4 Corvette ZR-1 from 1990-1994 designed by Lotus, producing from 370 hp to 405 hp. A mix of rumor and hope is that the new LT5 will be a supercharged evolution of the 6.2-liter LT1 (pictured) placed in the new C7 Corvette, and that it will go into the C7 version of the ZR1 pumping out something like 700 hp.
The LTX trademark is, as with that last letter, a complete mystery. If the "X" isn't a generic way to denote the whole LT family, it's wondered if it LTX could refer to a crate motor offering like the LSX.

Subprime financing on the rise in new car sales, leasing too

We all remember the financial crisis that began several years back. At its core was a splurge of subprime lending for housing loans. The housing bubble burst, triggering a collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market. Apparently, those types of loans still exist in the automotive industry, and the market share for these types of "nonprime, subprime, and deep subprime," loans has grown 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago.
According to an Automotive News report, high-risk lending expanded to 24.8 percent of total loans in Q3, up from 21.9 percent for this time last year. As this level increased, average credit scores of borrowers dropped to 755, down from 763 a year ago. In that time, the average financing amount increased $90 per vehicle, to $25,963.
At 818, Volvo maintains the highest per-owner credit score, while Mitsubishi has the lowest, at 694. The highest rate of borrowers was at Toyota, with 14 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 13.1 percent and Chevrolet at 11.1.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Convertible offers a few more views before reveal

Over the weekend, Chevrolet released its first images of the new 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible. Now, ahead of the droptop's official introduction tomorrow at the Geneva Motor Show, the automaker has given us a few more shots of the softop C7 showing off the car's rump albeit from a high, strategically positioned angle.
From this angle, it's hard to get a sense for how long and flat the decklid really is, but we can easily see that, like the rest of the C7's design, the new convertible's decklid and tonneau cover are far more detailed than the current car. We also get a better look at the rear haunches sans brake vents, which have apparently been moved to underneath the car in order to accommodate the top's hard cover.
As for the overall styling of the C7 convertible, with the top erected, we get some idea of what a coupe design (as opposed to the Stingray's fastback shape) would look like on this car. The C5 Corvette most recently had a coupe model that did away with the large glass hatchback, and we recently reported on a low-cost "coupe" model potentially being added to the C7's repertoire.