Rotary enthusiast Rob Dahm has recently bought a C8 Corvette for his next project, the “modern Aerovette” with a four-rotor turbo engine in the middle and close to 1,000 ponies on tap. But before the build gets underway, the YouTube vlogger has assessed the damage from a crash with a DUI driver.
24 hours or so after the first owner took delivery of the car, the Stingray with the Z51 performance package somehow T-boned a Hyundai sedan driven by a certain someone who had a drink too many before getting in his Accent. “DWI VICTIM” on the passenger window serves as a reminder of the accident, as well as the considerable damage at the front end.
Though the second owner doesn’t plan on fixing the car back to its original specification, Rob Dahm thinks “it can be fixed easily.” Easy is a pretty vague word to define in this situation, but it would cost plenty of bucks to replace the expended airbag assemblies, exterior trim, and front-end damage.
“This is what sadness looks like,” says Dahm while pointing at various pieces of plastic and metal. Given that the mid-engine sports car had 200 miles (322 kilometers) when it was crashed, it is a sad sight indeed.
The rarity of the C8 Corvette and the limited availability of replacement parts for the 2020 model year should also be highlighted. As such, repairing the Stingray Z51 would take a lot of time if you plan on doing it by yourself in the comfort of your garage. Specialized help from an authorized Chevy dealer would be more expensive given how much an hour of labor costs.
The most difficult thing about the repairability of the C8 is… wait for it… the electronic stuff. It’s widely known that the eighth-gen platform is a tough cookie to crack, especially the engine control unit of the LT2 small-block V8.
Various sensors and electronic systems are housed in the bumper or between the front wheels, and chances are that only specialized tools can set up the salvaged parts and all-new replacements from General Motors.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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