Sad news for Corvette enthusiasts...and for the insurance company that covers the Corvette's Bowling Green, KY. assembly plant. The plant recently suffered major damage in the massive tornadoes (quite unusual for December) and fire that hit the region. Inspection is still taking place, and the number of totaled vehicles (currently 122) could rise.

These new C8s are hard enough to get, even without disasters like this. I'm hoping that the affected vehicles can be disassembled, and the valuable computer-chips and other badly needed parts in them be re-used to produce other new C8s when the factory damage is repaired.

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/12/19/...fter-tornadoes

About 122 new C8 Chevrolet Corvettes to be scrapped after tornadoes

Cars still being inspected, number could rise

JONATHON RAMSEY
Dec 19th 2021 at 10:28AM

• 16comments

General Motors inspectors are still examining the fallout from the tornado and fire damage at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant that produces the C8 Chevrolet Corvette. According to the Corvette Action Center, first reports indicate about 122 units of the 2022 Corvette inside the plant were damaged beyond repair. These models will be scrapped. GM will reach out to the dealers for the affected customers and let the dealers know to resubmit their orders. Supposedly, those remade orders will be prioritized when production lines reopen this week. Carscoops, reporting ondiscussions at the C8 Corvette Owners page on Facebook, noted a post by Tom Ringelsetter. "Heads up everybody. My VIN was 10109 and scheduled to be built this past Monday the 13th according to the spreadsheet here. I just got a call from my dealer that my car was actually built last Thur/Friday. Unfortunately, it was damaged and has to be rebuilt. He said all of the damaged cars are going to go back to the front of the line. If you had a VIN # somewhere around mine, there is a chance your car was built and is fine hopefully."

The scrappage number could increase. There were Corvettes parked outside the facility for shipping that are still being checked for damage.

A skeleton crew of 90 skilled workers from UAW Local 2164 has stayed on the job since the weather disturbance, out of 1,200 total line workers. GM quickly moved people and resources from facilities as far away as Detroit to help rebuild, so GM's intention to begin the process of making Bowling Green fully operational on Monday, December 20 will continue as planned. A "cadenced return" will ramp up the headcount for four days, with the whole workforce scheduled to be back on Thursday, December 23. Meanwhile, workers will be helping Bowling Green residents; the Union Local received so many gift cards to help members that the union plans to use some of the purchasing power to help the community at large.

 

 

That Bowling Green Corvette has had some bad fortune recently. First the big sink hole that caused a lot of damage, especially to the museum area and now the December storm. I wish them the best getting back up to speed.

 

Oh that's great!

 

On the bright side, all sold. To the insurer.

 

terrible loss. but speaking of c8's, i've seen a few on the road. i really think it's the ugliest corvette ever made.

 

Yes, a large part of Kentucky, geologically, has what is called Karst Topography, which means limestone underground, and that limestone gets eroded by underground water to form sinkholes when the surface layer above it simply collapses on top of where the former limestone had been. The Corvette Museum, unfortunately, got caught in one of them. Many small lakes in regions like that are actually sinkholes filled with water. That type of topography can also form large underground caves/caverns...what is arguably the largest cave in the world (Mammoth Cave) lies in Kentucky.

 

All automakers probably have insurance companies that cover losses like this, due to weather, fires, earthquakes, robberies, etc... and all kinds of natural disasters. In fact, it is probably a requirement in most states to be able to do business.

Yeah, I'm not terribly impressed with the looks, either. Moving the engine back behind the cabin really altered the profile of the car. To me, one of the classic trademarks of 'Vette was the long, low hood for the big V8s they enclosed....that's gone with the change to mid-engine design.

 

I agree. I think the gen before was much better looking.

 

they already made over 33k C8s, 112 wont be missed

 

Nevertheless the corvette was selling 2 weeks ago when I asked $24,000 over MSRP. Probably, this markup will go up after the tornadoes. There should be some law that prohibits these rip offs.

 

Although not much can be done about outlawing tornadoes, one effective law on the price is simply the law of the consumer saying no....dealers can't sell what people won't pay. And we would also need a law against hype....much of what Corvettes sell for (and what the public is willing to pay) is determined by the hype these cars get in the auto-press.

 

Ugly or not, mid engine has been discussed since Zora Duntov started at GM. Mid engine was the right move and it can be bought at a third of the price of a typical Lambo or Ferrari. Other than all the bugs with it, it is still 10 times the car the previous generations were. They should've been mid engine 20 years ago. Most Vette owners are not complaining about it.

 

then the customers would be the ones marking up instead of the dealer, cant ban that

 

Sure, on gas, bread, and other items essential to day-to-day living. A law to limit how much a car dealer can charge for a sports car? No thanks.