Tornado-Damaged Corvettes Are Being Stripped And Sold Online

The C8 Corvette is a magnificent car, but producing it has been a massive headache. In the last 12 months, production was brought to a standstill due to parts shortages, striking workers, and a tornado.

The tornado arguably caused the most damage, destroying a large chunk of the Bowling Green facility and the 122 Corvettes inside at the time.

Chevrolet salvaged what they could from the 122 cars, and the consensus was that they’d be scrapped. The risk of putting the vehicles out there was too big, so we thought Chevrolet would just cut its losses and crush them. A big X spray-painted on the windscreen is never a good sign.

As it turns out, there’s more to the story. A member of CorvetteBlogger got in touch with the publication and sent it a link for a set of open-spoke black aluminum wheels.

We did some snooping and found all the listings made by Stricker Auto Parts, located in Ohio. Stricker is known for recycling car parts, and it has loads of 2022 Corvette parts for sale. Some of the images on the website clearly show models with the same X on the window, so it’s pretty obvious these are the same Corvettes that were supposedly crushed.

Just so we’re clear, we’re not blaming Chevrolet if these cars were sold as scrap. We see no reason why it and a third-party stripper can’t make some money from this tragedy.

And it’s good news for C8 Corvette owners as well.

We popped over to GM’s parts website, and it’s pretty clear that there’s a severe shortage of parts for the C8. Google directs you to Stricker’s eBay page if you want to buy something as basic as a replacement OEM steering wheel.

GM’s online store currently only offers cosmetic parts at quite a premium. Stricker has everything you need, including brakes, wheels, suspension parts, audio equipment, and steering racks. All the salvageable body parts seem to have sold out already.

So while Chevrolet might struggle to get the Corvette built, existing owners now at least have another option for parts, but it’s unlikely to last. Looking at the current catalog of available parts, it’s also clear that Stricker didn’t buy all of the 122 cars.

Who knows where they might pop up next?