UPDATE: In a statement to Jalopnik, a Chevy spokesperson offered the explanation: “We appreciate the speculation, but that symbol was included as part of our standardization process. It is not indicative of any plans to add the feature to Corvette and we plan to remove the icon in the future.”
Automakers routinely use the same parts on multiple vehicles as a way to save money. An eagle-eyed Chevrolet Corvette owner on Reddit spotted a bizarre example of this on the mid-engined sports car. The person realized there was a glow plug pictogram on the panel of warning lights.
For those unaware of them, glow plugs are a heating element in the cylinders that help diesel engines start when the powerplant is cold by helping the fuel-air mixture to ignite. The light on the dashboard illuminates to tell a driver that the glowplugs are active, and when it goes out, the person can start the engine.
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Obviously, the C8 doesn’t have a diesel engine, so there are no glow plugs. The video above shows that while the insignia for the system is present in the Corvette, it doesn’t light up when the driver turns the key. This suggests there isn’t even a bulb in that spot to illuminate the pictogram.
There’s something really humorous about Chevy reusing an indicator that’s likely off of pickup with a diesel engine on its halo sports car. We’re curious if the glow plug image shows up on the upcoming Corvette Z06, too.
Buyers can’t get enough of the C8. The new Corvette was the quickest selling car in America in July by spending an average of just seven days in showrooms before finding a buyer. The average customer is dropping $86,785 to get one.
In fact, so many orders have been flooding in that Chevy has decided to boost production of the ‘Vette at the Bowling Green, Kentucky, factory. “We have more orders than we can handle,” Tony Johnson, director of car and crossover marketing for Chevrolet, recently said.
