No car, no matter how beloved to the auto workers in the city of Detroit, is safe from having its wheels stolen. At least, it sure seems that way, given the state of this 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8, which was photographed today on a street in Detroit's West Village. Its wheels are missing, only the middle of the car—its bare rocker panels, no less—is supported by blocks, while the mid-engine Vette's tail sits on the ground without so much as a pillow (or a jack stand).

We don't have many details about the incident involving America's reborn sports car and our 2020 Car of the Year. But the basics are simple to grasp: Car was left parked outside; bad guys or gals came along and helped themselves to its wheels; and there the car remains, freshly shorn of its primary components for getting around. The thieves didn't even take the lug nuts, which were left on the ground nearby.

It isn't clear who owns the car, although it may belong General Motors, despite its non-manufacturer Michigan license plate. There is a "1" sticker in the window, implying it belongs to a captured test fleet. Besides, we'd be surprised that a customer C8 would even be out and about—production is still ramping up after the company's worker strike last year delayed the C8's launch—and couldn't imagine why any new Corvette owner would street-park their prized sports car in the dead of winter, be it in downtown Detroit—which doesn't hold a great reputation when it comes to car thefts—or anyplace else.

In the meantime, it looks unlikely that the thieves will be able to offload the C8's wheels and tires easily. There aren't many of the cars around to begin with, so there's neither much of a market for replacement wheels or tires nor much cover for the seller to explain where they got the parts in the first place. That said, you never know—a full set of new tires for the C8 costs well over $1,000, and a factory-fresh set of wheels might cost double that, if not more.