When a video was recently posted capturing a trio of M-plated 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray coupes testing out in Arizona, we fell in love with the shimmering blue model. Sadly, it seems to be that very model found itself at the business end of a guard rail, and then a rock wall, according to Digital Corvettes, via CorvetteBlogger.
Perhaps the crash was because of a systems failure. Perhaps the driver got ahead of themselves, or was trying to avoid something. Either way, why did it have to be the beautiful blue one?
Update: Chevrolet has provided a response to the incident:
“We can confirm that during routine testing, a Stingray was involved in a one-car accident. During evaluation, due to driver error the inside tire caught the edge of the pavement during a tight corner, leading to the accident. Thankfully, no one was hurt, the car received only minor damage, and no citations were issued.”
Update II: Nobody was fired, according to Mark Reuss’ Twitter handle.
Comments
Oh God Why???
Guys…you’ve got it all wrong. It’s a SCULPTURE.
See what I did there? 😛
Even when written off, it looks good.
Go home Corvette….
You’re drunk.
lol.
Sad Mac
I wouldn’t be surprised if my MacBook Pro resurrected the “Sad Mac” graphic and displayed it when I read this…
Looks like the plate number matches the blue one from the trio story. Dat sucks. The Corvette sure looks cool though.
That was my favorite Corvette color!
Well at least it went out like a trooper in the field (although it appears to be very repairable) being a pre-production car it’s destined for the crusher anyway…or some glorious destruction in a Micheal Bay movie.
If there is a delay, we will know it was system failure.
More likely the tester was driving like an idiot – like when they shot ahead during
the filming of the three testers on the road. Why is it that we seem to
get so many videos of idiots driving Corvettes dangersously on the road?
Sure, we can write it off as dipwads who have more money than sense and
driving skills, but this time – IT’S A GM EMPLOYEE?!
Performance should be tested on the track – right? What if this crash
resulted in civilian personal injury? You know, you – or your wife
in the family car with the kids in back? We see tons of photos
online of Ferraris, Porsches and exotic Bugattis in the ditch or
upside down on the road… We get negative and say, ” Wow,
look at what some rich jerk did to his $200,000 ride! ” I think
this goes even more for testers who do this crap on public
roads.
Keep your cool, sir.
Things like this just happen, it’s not like the driver did it on purpose.
who turned the traction control off ?????
James you have no clue about ALPHA testing nor how to drive
Fact GM states
Chevrolet spokesman Monte Doran, who confirmed that the Corvette was involved in a one-car crash during routine testing.
Here’s what he stated:
“During evaluation, the driver caught the inside of tire and the edge of the pavement during a tight corner, leading to the accident.
Thankfully, no one was hurt, the car received only minor damage, and no citations were issued.”
Track only testing for a car sold for the street would be pretty dumb.
Those C7s were hand built and anything can go wrong
If a design issue then that is what this testing is for to better find it now and not later
If a design flaw then the testing did it’s job.
Being the cops gave out NO tickets says you do not know what your talking about.
@JRVette
Hmmm… I don’t know how to drive – or…? Or what? Or I’d be zooming around
at 20, 30, or 50 mph over the posted limit? On-roads testing is done routinely
to test all systems and performance of a car, sports car or not, in daily routine
driving conditions in all types of weather. GM has it’s Milford proving grounds
and access to innumerable race tracks to test at high speeds.
What this has to do with me not knowing how to drive in your mind is a
puzzle. Kurt Busch got nailed for driving like a jerk on public roads and
so would you. Most good, fast drivers like race drivers know that the
track is the place for high performance driving. The fact the guy
didn’t get busted is because nobody witnessed him doing whatever
got him in the ditch and bounced off the guard rail. It doesn’t mean
what he was doing was accepted or endorsed in any way.
When I was young dumb and full of — testosterone, I drove like an
idiot also. I’ve owned a number of high speed cars and I have
street raced and acted like nobody else existed but me also.
Those days are gone and I usually try to keep my speed down
to a reasonable level unless twisty roads exist without any
chance of killing someone . Thing is – today the roads are far
more crowded than when I was a kid. After some tickets and
mess ups I soon realized that it could be me at the
death-end of some nutjob believing he was Michael Andretti
or Ken Block.
There’s plenty of safe, legal places to learn race driving skills
and insurance costs of stupid driving can be very stiff.
If you believe that because I don’t drive on public roads like
that guy, or the guys racing ‘Vettes from the stoplight that
GMA posted a few months back — ( guy offed, totaled ) or the
‘Vette guy who lambasted another ‘Vette during a club drive
that GMA posted awhile back..or…, Then I suggest you
stop trying to prove your manhood by believing Fast & Furious
is awesome and we should all just test the adhesion limits
of whatever we drive as if we were the only important ones
that exist in our world.
Not accusing anyone of anything, but I find it funny that GM was quick to point out it was driver failure.
James “Not accusing anyone of anything”
Yea whatever that means 🙂
Your whining and assuming but in the end thousands of cars crash weekly and no one makes news out of it and in doing so in this case says there is a underlying reason for your posts.
When the C6 Z06 was going through the same testing 1 crashed, it happens when these testbeds are driven countless hours a day and shaking out designs yet on non produced cars.
Testing should be breaking designs and learning what it takes to correct and even how to fix cars.in design stage.
James, what the hell is wrong with you? I’m whining? What am I whining about?? LOL
Hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me what I’m thinking right now!
JRVette. lol You’re still an idiot. Who gives a shit??
How’s that for wining, you neanderthal? I never said there was an underlying reason for anything. All I said was, “GM was quick to point out it was driver failure.” I did not blame the car, the driver, or the manufacture.
So if you want to be so much as dumb as SH!T and say I meant more, than go ahead. You’re an idiot. I personally could careless about how many of these cars crash. There, happy? Now get a life or go shoot yourself.
I printed the three colors I was considering and put them on my wall next to my monitor here at work. It was suggested that I keep track of which color I kept looking at so I would know what color I really want in my garage. After weeks of keeping track, the blue one has more than double my votes than the black and red combined.
I can’t express how sad I am to see this happen. It hurts. I think I will go cry a little in my energy drink…… @Kyree, thanks for trying, man. But it is just too soon. Too soon to be looking at it as anything other than tragedy. 🙁
@JRVette –
You misquoted me – check it out – you’re quoting “Kiel”‘s post.
If what you say is correct – There’s literally all kinds of wrecks
involving manufacturer-employed test engineers on our
public roads – like , hey, it happens all the time.
You’re not correct, and this shouldn’t happen on public roads.
Endurance testing in real-life conditions, yes. Blasting around
like these guys – no.
So how can anyone tell how fast they’re going? Who’s to say that traffic wasn’t going slower than the speed limit? Good job on convicting the drivers with no real evidence, James.
It’ll buff out….
Oh no! It was the beautiful blue one, and now that color is gone forever! Oh wait, maybe GM just might have some more of that blue around somewhere….. whew! 😉
@Kiel – by noting “James” , I hope you meant JRVette, because I was not the one
accusing anyone of “whining”…pls reread and see if you called out the wrong
person.
@silvervagon – yeah, we go onto the web and see pictures of hot sports cars
upside-down, in the ditch and plowed into telephone poles, and yes, we
do assume that this Ferrari or Porsche Turbo was moving at a high
rate of speed… You do! Admit it! Also, please reference GMA.com’s past
video posts of Corvette drivers doing stupid things and paying
the price. I can assume with a great deal of confidence that this
Blue C7 GM test driver did not bounce off a guard rail and pop off
the tarmac , sliding , skidding and crashing in the ditch against a stone
wall due to slow traffic! If you watch the video posted days earlier –
there were 3 C7s all in a row driving on a public highway in traffic.
When the car of young guys pulls up with camera – one of the ‘Vette
drivers feels it’s his duty to burn out and show off , speeding ahead
to the next stoplight at a very high rate of speed. This shows me
what mindset these guys had in their “tests” on public roads. So
for me to “go out on a limb” and assume this beautiful blue C7
ended up in the ditch because the driver got happy with the go
pedal – I don’t think that I was pushing it making that assumption.
As for you – some guys can justify ANYTHING and some guys
just want to argue.
@james STFU no one cares!
James, you are correct. I apologize. JRVette can GFYS.