Corvette C7 Valet Hitting 50 mph in Garage Caught on Video

By John Coyle - December 15, 2014

Update 12/19/2014: Check out our valet recap, where we interview Dan Cowles and get up close and personal with his 2015 Corvette Stingray; the car that brought national attention to how valets treat your vehicle while you’re away. It’s also our Corvette of the Week.

Update 12/16/2014: The video from the Los Angeles NBC affiliate has been posted. You can watch it below.

Update: 12/15/2014 : Here’s the statement from dcowles: “I had to temporarily remove this video. A local news station has contacted me about it and is looking at running a story on it.” The video has just been set to private. Sounds like this situation is heating up. Stay tuned, as soon as we have more info, we’ll post it.

We’ve all heard horror stories about what can happen when you hand over your keys to a valet, and plenty of Corvette Forum members insist on parking themselves.

Unfortunately, this Performance Data Recorder—which was set to valet mode—video seems to confirm our worst fears about what happens when your baby pulls out of sight. Friday night, Corvette Forum member dcowles left his 2015 C7 with a valet at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. The valet then proceeded to hit 50mph in the parking garage, and if that’s not enough, he may have tapped its nose on the wall while pulling into the space. Fortunately, a later inspection revealed the Torch Red Vette came away unscathed.

Of course, we can’t say the same thing about the valet—he’s obviously looking for a new job.

When the PDR debuted, there were some concerns about whether using it to record the actions of valets could be illegal. And while laws can vary from state to state, in California, you do not need someone’s consent to video record them—as long as there’s no audio. So from a legal standpoint this, video is A-OK.