The Corvette generation that followed the C4 was the C5.
The C5 was Chevrolet’s fifth-generation Corvette and succeeded the C4 after the 1984–1996 model-year run. It arrived for 1997, bringing a substantially redesigned platform, a new LS1 V8, and a more modern structure beneath its familiar two-seat sports-car layout.
One of the C5’s major engineering changes was a hydroformed steel frame designed to improve rigidity. Chevrolet also mounted the transmission at the rear as part of a transaxle arrangement connected to the engine by a torque tube. This helped produce near-even front-to-rear weight distribution and improved the Corvette’s handling balance.
The C5 was sold as a coupe beginning in 1997, followed by a convertible in 1998 and a fixed-roof hardtop in 1999. A high-performance Z06 returned in 2001 with the LS6 engine. Production continued through 2004, when the C6 became its successor. The C5 is therefore not the C4 itself, but the next generation in Corvette’s sequential C-series naming system.