New Z06 bursts into flames

We don't care if you're a Chevy guy or a Ford guy, or as is the case of skelzy, a BMW guy. You gotta shed at least a small tear over this story. M3Forum-poster skelzy was on his way home from work when he spots a flaming car in the lane next to him. Skelzy pulls into the parking lot behind the flaming car to realize it's a brand new Z06 bellowing more smoke than a diesel Seville. The story ends badly with firefighters taking picks and axes to the high-performance Chevy's sensuous body panels. Ohhhhh, the horror.
Skelzy just couldn't look away and took several photos of the muy caliente Corvette. Click on the link to see more and read the full story.
When you just can't take any more, come back and click here. There. Feel better?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Vexorg 1:05PM (11/03/2006)
Chevy: An American Immolation.
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james 1:06PM (11/03/2006)
Ouch!
James
http://www.CarTV.com
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Phil L. 1:14PM (11/03/2006)
The story makes it sound like it could have been a dealer-caused problem. I'd love to hear the follow-up on who will pay for this one.
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jeffer 1:18PM (11/03/2006)
Oh the humanity!
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Cap'n Jack 1:24PM (11/03/2006)
#4 Insurance will pay for it.
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Yatrik 1:35PM (11/03/2006)
The horror! The horror!
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JB 1:42PM (11/03/2006)
Probably a dealer screw up. It's not like German cars are perfect, either. Remember that Lemans M-B that the owner refused a couple months ago?
And skelzy, learn how to use an apostrophe, ok?
What exactly does "ax's" mean? It sounds like you need to "ax" someone about how to use apostrophes.
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Montecristo 1:50PM (11/03/2006)
it's all fun and games to make fun of GM here but as I do recall the story of a neighbor of mine and how his brand new X5 caught fire and burned down half of his house.
Things happen I guess.
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Corey 1:59PM (11/03/2006)
Nice shots. I'm with others regarding the "ALWAYS BUY GERMAN" comment. Things happen.
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Baumann 2:05PM (11/03/2006)
Missing from the summary is where he explains that the dealer just installed new exhaust. So, most likely a dealer problem and not a GM flaw.
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George 2:05PM (11/03/2006)
They havn't built a nice Corvette since 1972
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chuck goolsbee 2:13PM (11/03/2006)
That is why I ALWAYS carry a fire extinguisher in all my (gasoline powered) cars. If you want to prevent the complete loss of the car, you, the driver, are the best first responder.
--chuck (been in two car fires, put out both before they got out of control)
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J.L.Zack 2:17PM (11/03/2006)
No big woop.
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Phil L. 2:25PM (11/03/2006)
> Insurance will pay for it.
But *whose* insurance? The owner's insurance will likely try to push back to the dealer. Sadly, the owner will be stuck in the middle.
> That is why I ALWAYS carry a fire extinguisher in all my (gasoline powered) cars
As do I. But note that the worst of the fire happened after Goodyear guys used their extinguisher (a repair shop fire extinguisher is probably much more capable that what either of us carry in our cars). So it might not have made a different.
If you don't have a fire extinguisher in your car: Stop by an auto or hardware store on your way home tonight - and keep it within arm's reach of the driver's position!
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srivendel 2:31PM (11/03/2006)
Uh, I'm not so sure that keeping a fire extinguisher in "arm's reach" is such a great idea. It seems like the chances of the heavy metal cylinder becoming a projectile in an accident are greater than the chances of actually needing to extinguish a fire with it.
People have been injured by tissue boxes that have struck them when they flew across the car in an accident. I shudder to think what a fire extinguisher would do. The only option would be to strap the extinguisher down somehow. But how? And where? This seems like more trouble than it's worth. If you have time to grab your fire extinguisher, you have time to exit the vehicle, which is the first thing you should be concerned about if your car is really on fire.
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Americanmade 2:32PM (11/03/2006)
11. They havn't built a nice Corvette since 1972
Posted at 2:03PM on Nov 3rd 2006 by George
If you really know what your talking about you'd know that most likely the owner had badly designed headers installed that was laying against the oil sump hoses or exhaust installed incorrectly and blew the trannie cooler lines and NOT the design of the car
As to the picks and ax I say BS for the picture is after the fire and where is all that damage from using them ?
Figures a M3 idiot reporting on how great the nazi cars are built
The owner deserves what he got in taking a brand new 500 HP Z06 and hacking it up and voidiing warranty and now will expect GM to give him a new Z06
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Phil L. 2:45PM (11/03/2006)
srivendel -
As I discovered when a friend took her car to Europe for an extended job-related stay (a fire extinguisher is *required* to be in the car where she went in Belgium), there are *lots* of providers who make hardware to solve just this problem. Sadly, you'll find few of them in the US.
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Silver 2:46PM (11/03/2006)
Dell laptop left in the trunk perhaps? :)
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Euchre 3:12PM (11/03/2006)
I read the forum thread and the car was 'put out' and caught fire again. This is a common mistake when dealing with car fires. I watched a car burn down that I helped in trying to put out, until the guy that brought out the extinguisher took it back when I set it down because it was 'put out enough'. When you car is smoking, open the hood from a safe position, the trunk, all of it - and let the heat out. Use the extinguisher or hose or whatever until the thing is dead cold.
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Marc 3:12PM (11/03/2006)
atleast the interior door lights still work.
;-p
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