A pre-production 2020 Corvette Stingray was involved in an accident on CA Route 120 near Yosemite, California over the weekend, marking the first known crash of the Corvette C8 on public roads.
A video taken at the scene of the accident shows a 2020 Corvette Stingray with heavy front end damage facing the opposite direction in the right-hand lane, while a Ford Ranger, also with front end damage, sits parked off to the side of the road.
It’s worth noting the Corvette has left front damage, whereas the Ranger has right front damage. Witness accounts of the crash allege the two vehicles clipped each other on the narrow, twisting canyon road, and while it’s not clear how accurate these reports are, the crash damage on both vehicles appears to support this recollection of events.
The Corvette C8 in question was wearing a Michigan manufacturer’s plate. That means this car belongs to GM and probably had an engineer, executive or another company employee behind the wheel. It also appears to have a GoPro-style camera attached to its roof, though it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever see the footage from the crash – assuming it was rolling at the time.
It’s unfortunate to see this crash, but accidents happen – especially when you have a myriad of prototypes driving on public roads all over the country each and every day, as the Corvette engineering team currently does.
Readers of this site may recall seeing a Camaro ZL1 1LE prototype slam into a wall at the Nurburgring a few years back. Chevy also crashed the C7 Corvette Z06 on two separate occasions when gunning for a Nurburgring lap time with the car. That said, this crash is a bit scarier than those other testing accidents, as it occurred in public and involved a civilian vehicle.
It’s not yet clear if anyone was injured in the accident.
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Comments
Mark Ruess at it again….
Thats funny. Downvoters have no sense of humor.
Evidently you guys didn’t view the video because there was a Traverse with heavy rear end damage ahead of the Ford Ranger!
Correction Equinox.
Well if it happened in the order they sit the Vette May have turned in too much caught the Quarter of the Nox then clipped the Ranger. It ripped the left rear wheel totally off.
Was it a GM employee or a early media person unfamiliar with the cars for a early test drive story.
Motor Trend already got a test ride with a Tadge in a Mule.
Would not be the first media Corvette crash.
Hmm…the way it struck the Equinox doesn’t make a good case for the Corvette driver/tester. If the Vette sheared the rear wheel/tire off the Equinox, it was moving pretty fast.
I’m all for pushing these cars to their limits on a track, but on public roads?
Of course, the video could set everything straight — if it were to ever see the light of day.
Live to dream.. everything happens for a reason as this sounds like an opportunity for a new video on how to go about restoring this first ever known C8 Corvette accident.
“everything happens for a reason” ranks right up there with “thoughts and prayers” on the BS scale.
The airbags work!
I hope the safety equipment wasn’t preproduction
Driving while “DUMB ASS ” looks like ! Combination of narrow road, Speed, Ego, thrown in with a little distraction . 25 plus years as a firefighter/paramedic I see this all the time. Thank goodness no one hurt/killed looks like ! But I do love me some Corvette C8 .