Sinkhole Corvettes: National Museum Re-Opens In Kentucky

From time to time there are news reports of cars falling into sinkholes around America. Not really such a big deal, apart from the financial loss suffered by the car’s owner.

But what if a number of unique and valuable cars fall into a sinkhole? That’s what happened to eight Corvettes last February, in the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The classic Corvettes simply disappeared into a 40-foot-wide, 20-foot-deep sinkhole that opened up in the facility’s yellow Sky Dome wing. At the time, the museum unofficially estimated the damage at millions of dollars. A team of investigators concluded that part of a cave roof collapsed following heavy rains, creating the giant sinkhole.

This weekend the National Corvette Museum re-opened, and it features all eight Corvettes which were swallowed by the sinkhole.

People from all over the county are clamoring to visit to the museum to see what have been dubbed the “Sinkhole Corvettes.” One visitor told reporters: “Kind of broke my heart. Never owned a Corvette but the Stingrays came out when I was in high school..”

The museum only pulled the last remaining Corvette out of the sinkhole a few weeks ago. Now they have been forced to come to terms with just how badly some of the cars were damaged.

Corvette thinks they may be able to salvage four out of the eight. A representative from General Motors was present at the museum on Tuesday, specifically to evaluate the condition of the ZR-1 Spyder.

A major decision has to be taken about what to do with the sinkhole, and a number of ideas are under consideration.

A Museum spokesperson stated:

“There is a possibility of leaving it here. Whether it’s just a portion or all of it having a bridge over it, stairs that go down it, a glass floor on tip where you can look down on it just any ideas people have. we are talking with the construction company and engineers just to see the possibilities.”

So far, nothing has been done, so if you want to see the sinkhole in all its original glory, now is your opportunity.

Once the re-opening celebrations for of National Corvette Museum are finished after this weekend, the museum officials are not sure when – or if – they will ever make the sinkhole area open to the public again.

So, this could be your only chance to see the Corvettes and their sinkhole together.