Chevrolet's C8 Corvette woes caught in the wild

Chevrolet's prototype broke down during a public refueling stop.

In a moment made particularly awkward by information leaked earlier this week about the state of GM's C8 Chevrolet Corvette program, spies caught a road-going prototype suffering from an ill-timed breakdown during a refueling stop.

According to the photographer, the C8 prototype failed to start after a refueling stop. Despite repeated efforts to fire it up, GM's engineers were forced to call for a tow.

Normally, a prototype breakdown would be little more than a blip on the newsworthiness radar, but rumors surfaced earlier this week suggesting that Chevrolet's mid-engine Corvette program is plagued by significant development issues.

Chief among them are an unspecified ergonomic concern, deficiencies in frame integrity, and, most pertinently in light of this breakdown, electrical gremlins.

Even these issues wouldn't necessarily be all that noteworthy for a vehicle still in development, but their significance is magnified by the fact that the C8 was expected to make its public debut in Detroit earlier this year, which means that the program is now likely well behind schedule.

It's unlikely that GM will publicly address the state of the C8 development program, especially given what has seemed to be an added layer of secrecy even compared to what we're used to when it comes to future product. Hopefully the C8 will break cover before the end of the year.

Photos by Brian Williams.