This Poor Mid-Engined Chevrolet Corvette C8 Prototype Broke Down
See the new sports car in a compromising position at a gas station and on the tow truck.
Prototype vehicles can be fragile, and this mid-engined C8 Corvette mule is proof positive that anything can happen. Our spy photographers caught this Vette in an unfortunate situation while testing in Michigan. While we're not exactly sure what had befallen the car when it pulled up to the gas station, we do know that the vehicle wouldn't start after getting refueled and eventually got towed back to GM's Milford Proving Grounds.
Our photographers tell us that nothing seemed amiss when the Corvette initially pulled up to the gas station, but that the vehicle apparently wouldn't start up again when it was refueled.
Things start off with the GM engineers looking under the front access panel—remember, it's not the hood, as the engine is in the middle. Our guess is that the issue had something to do with the car's battery, which is likely located up front. It's possible that one of the attempts to solve the problem involved disconnecting the battery.
With the car sitting unresponsive at the gas pump, the engineering team decided to whip out the car cover at this point to thwart any onlookers from seeing more of the car's styling.
GM's support vehicle, a GMC Sierra heavy-duty tow truck, finally arrived, and the Corvette was loaded on for a trip back to the shop.
We're somewhat surprised to see the Corvette prototype being towed in this manner, and it seems strange that GM didn't bring a flatbed truck to haul the precious C8 prototype around.
The fact that only the rear wheels are off the ground suggests that this is a rear-wheel-drive version of the new Corvette, rather than the rumored hybrid model that could have all-wheel-drive capability.
It's a sad sight indeed, but that doesn't mean we're not excited about the C8 Corvette's impending debut. Read more about what we've said about the car here, and see more spy photos here that show the car's styling and hint at some mechanical details.
Despite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.
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