Restoration is underway on the 1-millionth Corvette, a 1992 convertible, that was damaged in the sinkhole that opened up beneath the National Corvette Museum.
Chevrolet is starting restoration work on the one millionth Corvette ever built, a white 1992 model that was mangled when it fell into a sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky last year.
A crew from GM Design Centre's mechanical assembly group is taking on the project with the aim of preserving the car's original appearance.
The company committed to restoring three of the damaged vehicles.
The first restoration, of a 2009 Corvette ZR1 prototype called the Blue Devil, incurred light damage. It's been returned to original condition.
The third, of a 1962 Corvette, will be managed by the museum.
Globe Drive columnist Peter Cheney visited the museum late last year, writing how monthly attendance jumped 70 per cent owing to the publicity generated by the sinkhole.
Security cameras captured the sinkhole swallowing the eight Corvettes on Feb. 12, 2014. The museum's video on YouTube and has been viewed more than 8.5 million times. The sinkhole, measuring 14-by-18 metres and nine metres deep, pulled down the floor of the museum's Skydome area.
Five of the eight damaged cars are to remain in "as-recovered state" and be displayed at a sinkhole-themed exhibit. They are:
- 1993 ZR-1 Spyder
- 1984 PPG pace car
- 1993 40th anniversary Corvette
- 2001 “Mallett Hammer” Z06
- 2009 1.5-millionth Corvette.
The 1.5 millionth Corvette and Mallet Z06 were the last cars pulled from the sinkhole, on April 3 and April 9 last year. GM says they were buried, and it took a while to find them.
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