Pair of heavily disguised C8 Corvette development mules roll through the mountains under the watchful eye of a camera phone.
Thank goodness for real-world testing. Automakers have acres of space that they fill with computers, styling studios, simulation and testing rigs, and even private tracks. However, there are limits to what they can do with that much land. Nothing beats testing in the field. Judging by this video from the Coloradocarsdogsanddrones YouTube channel, it seems as if Chevrolet recently sent two C8 test mules out to Leadville, Colorado for some high-altitude testing.
This isn’t the first time they’ve been out there. In early July, we told you about a couple of shrouded C8s in the Centennial State. The main one spotted in this video seems more or less identically dressed. It’s hard to see much of anything underneath the cladding, although when the lead car brakes at the 1:03 mark, it appears as if the lit elements of the taillights have a square shape to them.
Unfortunately, the road noise filtering into the rogue camera person’s vehicle keeps us from hearing any sort of exhaust note from the C8s, which don’t make things any easier because they don’t accelerate hard in the footage.
At one point, the C7 ZR1 chaperoning the C8s allows the camera person to pass the mid-engined Corvettes on the left. As they pass, they decide not to pan right with their phone, which means they miss any chance of getting even a fleeting glimpse of the interior. Later on, the driver of the ZR1 gets wise to what the person in the vehicle that’s been following the Chevy Corvette convoy for miles is up to. Around 2:40, right before Coloradocarsdogsanddrones can make another pass on the left, the ZR1 driver slides into the left lane and taps their brakes to tell the amateur spy videographer to back off.
That’s OK. The C8 test mules will eventually test somewhere else in less camo and someone will be watching them…and filming.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
