Corvette Stingray Coupe

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
Coupe

We've already seen the brutal aftermath of the deadly tornado that ripped through Kentucky earlier this month, which included sections of the Corvette factory. This force majeure resulted in 122 brand new C8 Corvette Stingrays getting damaged beyond repair. Factory officials salvaged whatever components from the vehicles they could and prepared them for their final phase: the crusher. We don't know if that's happened yet but it's only a matter of time.

Someone managed to bring a drone to the area surrounding the factory where the C8s have been lined up before being crushed. We previously only saw a couple of photos of them but this drone footage shows the entire lot.

As you can see, a majority of the cars have their entire front ends, engine covers, and tops removed. Their seats are still inside covered in plastic. Also notice that there's an "X" drawn on the windshields. These markings were done by workers following the storm. Plant officials needed to know which C8s suffered water and/or structural damage.

Some sections of the factory's roof were damaged and the drone makes an additional pass over the facility itself, showing a few cranes as part of the cleanup and repair process. Customers whose orders were affected by the tornado have likely been notified. They're unlikely to take delivery when originally planned.

The C8 Corvette has been plagued by production issues ever since September 2019 during the five-week-long UAW strike. Not long after that was resolved, the coronavirus pandemic struck resulting in factory closures. GM, like all automakers, managed to put safeguards in place so that factory employees could return to the assembly lines. Unfortunately, supplier issues were the next thing to go wrong.

Once again, Corvette assembly was delayed because necessary components were not delivered on time. This is no doubt frustrating for customers, many of whom are being forced to wait about a year to get their cars.