There’s a risk that is always taken when a car is made in only a few copies. The rarity of such vehicles makes them expensive and appealing, but also vulnerable. What if something were to happen to it? There would be no replacement, no reproach. It would be gone from history forever.
Eight rare cars were swallowed by a sudden sinkhole in 2014 under the National Corvette Museum. Now in 2015, work is beginning on restoring some of these rarities. Some of the cars are broken beyond repair, but plans are in place for them as well.
It was a tragedy for the automobile world to be certain. Today we’ll talk about the event and what is being done to ensure these masterpieces of engineering aren’t forgotten.
Sinkhole Consumes Eight Rare Cars
That was the headline across all automobile websites in February 2014. The location was Bowling Green, Kentucky. Here stood the National Corvette Museum. At 5:44 AM, motion detectors went off in the museum, prompting personnel to go check it out.
When they arrived they found a sinkhole in the Skydome that was 40 feet across and 30 feet deep. The damage included 8 rare cars:
- 1993 ZR-1 Spyder
- 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil”
- 1962 Black Corvette
- 1984 PPG Pace Car
- 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
- 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
- 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
- 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette
Two of the cars were on loan from General Motors, while the others were owned by the museum. Luckily a one-of-a-kind 1983 Corvette survivor was spared. Ironic, given the name.
Saving The Lost Cars
Work began on trying to get the cars out of the sinkhole. The efforts began on a high note as the 2009 Corvette ZR1 Blue Devil was pulled from the hole and still in enough repair to drive away from the scene.
The workers then pulled out the 1993 40th Anniversary Ruby Red Corvette, followed by the 1962 Black Corvette, which proved to be a tough one to get out. The workers saw an opportunity to save the one millionth Corvette from 1992 and pulled that one out next.
Unfortunately, the cars were in varying states of disrepair. The 1962 for example had been pinned under several slabs of concrete. The 40th Anniversary car had shattered windows, splits, and cracks on the body panels. The one millionth car needed body repair and a new windshield.
Possibly the most damaged car was the 1984 Corvette PPG Pace Car. This was a one-off vehicle and when it was extracted, the team said it had been “karate chopped” by concrete as it fell.
It took until April of 2014 to extract all eight of the cars from the sinkhole. The Mallett was the last one to be pulled out. The Mallett was buried under concrete and rubble. It is almost unrecognizable in photos. It is this car that proves that not all of them can realistically be restored.
Restoration Plans are Announced
In September of 2014 it was announced that three of the eight Corvettes would be resorted. There was a massive debate as to which cars should be restored and it ended with GM providing $250,000 in support to restore the three chosen vehicles which are as follows:
- 2009 Corvette ZR1 “Blue Devil”
- The 1 Millionth Corvette
- 1962 Corvette
Those three will be repaired and displayed on the museum floor. The other five cars will remain as is, but they aren’t going to be scraped. Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, described their plans:
“Our goal was to help the National Corvette Museum recover from a terrible natural disaster by resorting all eight cars. However, as the cars were recovered, it became clear that restoration would be impractical because so little was left to repair. And, frankly, there is some historical value in leaving those cars to be viewed as they are.”
After the sinkhole event, the museum celebrated its 20th anniversary and enjoyed a 40 percent jump in traffic after the event occurred. It was announced that the five unrestored cars would be placed in a new exhibit surrounding the sinkhole event.
The Restoration Begins
The first car that was tackled was the 2009 Corvette ZR1 with the nickname “Blue Devil.” When it was extracted, it was able to drive right off the scene without any issues, so restoration on that one was quick and easy.
The next car in the three-car deal from GM is the 1992 white Corvette, the 1 millionth ‘Vette produced. Employees from the General Motor’s Design Mechanical Assembly Team were assigned to restore this vehicle.
The process began in June of 2015 and is expected to be completed by September. Once this is completed, the 1962 Corvette will be next in line for restoration. Remember though, the remaining Corvette Museum sinkhole cars will still live on in their own exhibit.
Photos Credit: National Corvette Museum
