[VIDEO] Bad News as Clive the Corvette Blows Engine During U.K. Racing Event

Jun 8, 2026

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[VIDEO] Bad News as Clive the Corvette Blows Engine During U.K. Racing Event

Photo Credit: ClivetheCorvette / Instagram

Before the smoke, before the pop at 6000 rpm, before the hole in the block big enough to see daylight through—there was Clive.

Clive isn’t just a Corvette. He’s a veteran of continents. A 242,000 mile storyteller on four wheels. A car that’s crossed deserts, chased the Arctic Circle, posed in the Kennedy Space Center’s rocket garden beside Neil Armstrong’s own ’67 Corvette, and lapped the NCM Motorsports Park in Kentucky under blistering heat. He’s been to the Keys, the Everglades, Watkins Glen, Niagara Falls, Vermont, and back home to England—twice.

He’s starred in children’s books, survived border crossings, dodged wildlife (well… almost), and carried his owner through adventures bold enough to make most sports cars hide under a dust cover.

Clive is the sort of Corvette that earns a name.

And after a quarter million miles, he had every right to be tired. But he never acted like it.

Perhaps it had to happen eventually. After traveling the distance to the moon—literally—Clive’s 6.2 liter LS2 had survived more track days, road trips, and redline moments than any sensible engine should. But on a warm afternoon at Lydden Hill in Kent, England, the old warrior finally met its match.

Five gentle laps into a track session, everything felt perfect. Oil pressure steady. Temps happy. The car rotating cleanly through the corners. Then, for the first time that day, the throttle went wide open.

At 6000 rpm, the moment arrived.
A sharp pop.
A vibration through the chassis.
A plume of smoke rising behind the car like a distress flare.
And then—silence.
The LS2 had let go.

Video captured it from every angle: inside the cabin, out the windshield, and behind the car as smoke billowed up in a thick gray curtain. Back in the shop, the diagnosis was immediate and terminal: a rod through the block. A piston missing. A crankcase with a brand new ventilation window.

Once the engine was out, the story became more interesting.

Despite the carnage, the cylinder walls showed only shallow witness marks. The crank had nothing more than light scuffing. Even the bearings—after 242,000 miles—looked astonishingly healthy. No scoring. No discoloration. No signs of oil starvation. A testament to the LS design, routine maintenance, and a lifetime of Liqui Moly oil.

The Improved Racing crank scraper and sump baffles had taken a beating, but they’d done their job until the very last moment. One exhaust valve was slightly bent. The rest of the engine looked almost eager to get on the track again.

The culprit sat quietly on the table of destruction: the rod bolts. One missing entirely. The other snapped clean off. A tiny failure with catastrophic consequences.

Clive’s owner stared at the wreckage—twisted metal, shattered piston, the block with its new “skylight”—and exhaled.

“Well,” he said, “time for a rebuild plan.”

After everything Clive has seen, done, and survived, this wasn’t the end. It was just the next chapter in his book of life.

And honestly? After a quarter million miles of adventure, Clive’s LS2 had earned the right to go out in a blaze of glory.

Source:
Clive the Corvette / YouTube

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5 COMMENTS

Ronnie Jun 8, 2026 At 8:24 pm

Yeah, real smart, run it until it breaks. Could have gone through it at 150-200K and it would still be running. Every performance rebuild I do gets new valves and rods rebuilt with liquid mag and new bolts. Learned the hard (expensive) way Bakersfield March Meet 1972, first and last time a rod went out the side.
RacerRick Jun 8, 2026 At 8:53 pm

Wasn’t the LS2 a 6.0 liter? At the claimed 6.2, maybe he already “went through it” ?
David Smitheram Jun 9, 2026 At 11:04 am

Ronnie, thanks for your comment, I have a few things to add. It is highly unusual to break a rod bolt on an LS2, the bottom end is usually stout. I am a believer in preventative ‘while you’re in there’ maintenance, but don’t have the budget to fire a parts cannon at the car, replacing everything. I have refreshed all of the common LS issues over the years, including harmonic balancer, rocker arm bearings, exhaust manifold bolts, lifters and lifter trays and cam chain tensioner. I have a baffled sump, replaced the water pump, fitted a Melling oil pump and addressed the oil cooling and many more items throughout the car. It should be noted Clive was a $9995 C6, he doesn’t get neglected though. Every engine has its inherent weaknesses, the LS bottom end isn’t usually one, hence leaving it alone until now. The plan is to rebuild it with as few changes as possible, replacing the broken parts, welding up the block and changing the rod bolts, then getting out and enjoying it again. It will break again, probably in a new and exciting way, that comes with running a high-mileage car hard on the track. What happens to the car will make its way into a future, updated C6 buyers guide, which should help future owners (I have published a book). Happy to chat offline, I’m constantly learning, this experience being a good example. Dave
Raylan Benzl Jun 9, 2026 At 2:32 pm

I am a little confused, having owned a LS2 motor in my 2006 C6, it was a 6.0L not a 6.2L engine. Moreover, one of the key selling points for the later model C6 in 2008, was the LS3 engine, which had an increase in displacement to 6.2L. This resulted in an additional 30 horse power and 25 pound-feet of torque. Thanks, Ray
David Smitheram Jun 10, 2026 At 9:25 am

Yes, it’s the original, 6 litre LS2. Just a typo by the author.