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[sagi58]

Huge sinkhole devours eight vintage Corvettes in Kentucky museum - caught on tape

Published on Feb 13, 2014

Courtesy: National Corvette Museum. A large sinkhole collapsed part of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, swallowing eight cars on February 12. According to news reports, the sinkhole, measuring 40 feet wide and up to 30 feet deep, opened up early on Wednesday morning, in the domed section of the museum. This CCTV footage shows the moment that the floor collapsed underneath the cars.

[sagi58]

Sinkhole gobbles up 8 vintage Corvettes at Kentucky museum

A 40-foot sinkhole opened up under the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky on Wednesday and swallowed eight collector cars, including the historic one millionth Corvette built in 1992.

No injuries were reported, but a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors Co were among the iconic cars piled up in the gaping pit.

“It seems almost Biblical in a way, to have the ground open up and swallow the cream of the collection of the museum,” said Corvette historian Jerry Burton. “What are the odds?”

Alarms went off early Wednesday morning in the “Skydome” area and museum security officers who rushed to the scene discovered the sinkhole, 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9 m) deep.

The Bowling Green Fire Department estimated its width at 40 feet (12 m). Security camera footage posted on the museum’s web site shows two cars falling in as the hole opens up. Museum spokeswoman Laura Johnson said other cars near the sinkhole have been safely removed, and the museum was now trying to find a way to pull up the damaged Corvettes.

In addition to the White 1 Millionth Corvette, a 1962 Black Corvette, a 1984 PPG Pace Car, a 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette, a 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette and a 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette were among the damaged cars owned by the museum.

Burton said the millionth Corvette, which was never sold, was likely the most valuable car and could fetch “several million dollars” from the right buyer. The facility will be closed on Wednesday, while a structural engineer assesses the damage, the museum said. It will reopen Thursday, but the Skydome area will be blocked off.

That region of south central Kentucky contains many caves and sinkholes, known as “karst” topography. Mammoth Cave National Park is about 20 miles from Bowling Green.“It’s not uncommon for us to see sinkhole collapses,” said city spokeswoman Kim Lancaster. “Most are significantly smaller than the one we have today.”

Bowling Green city hydrologist Tim Slattery said when the museum was constructed, builders “did do their due diligence” on the area’s geography. But sinkholes can develop over time, as water goes underground and carries soil with it, he said. GM builds Corvettes at a plant near the museum, which opened in 1994.

The value of the damage was not immediately known, as most are one-of-a-kind collector cars with no similar sales figures to use as comparison, according to Sam Murtaugh, marketing director at Mecum Auctions of Wisconsin.

“How do you even begin to place a value on the 1 Millionth Corvette built?” Murtaugh said in an e-mail. “It’s irreplaceable.”

Dave Chrisley, president and co-founder of the Bowling Green Assembly Corvette Club, which was started by plant workers, said he believes the cars on loan from GM were the most valuable -especially the Spyder.

“You’d have to auction it to even put a price on it,” said Chrisley. “I couldn’t even give you a ballpark. It was a concept car.”

The museum’s Facebook page was filled with comments from devastated auto fans, including one suggesting that flags be lowered to half-staff “to honor the fallen vettes.”

[sagi58]

Sinkhole pictures

[sagi58]

Rare Corvettes extracted from sinkhole in Kentucky


Last week, workers began the careful extraction of five of the eight extremely rare Corvettes that were swallowed by a sink hole that opened up underneath the National Corvette Museum. Here are photos of what cars have been saved — and what condition they were in upon extraction.

Pictured above is the one-millionth Corvette ("the Millionth Corvette") ever to be built. It was salvaged from the sinkhole on March 5, 2014. Car lovers around the world let out a collective sigh of relief.

[sagi58]

Pictures of Rare Corvettes extracted from sinkhole in Kentucky

[madbrad]

The ZR1 Spyder is out and she's in a very sorry state indeed

[geetface9]

Luckily they were just corvettes. It could have been much worse!!

[racechick]

OMYGOD
I've only just read this

[bud]

Ouch

[What's Burning?]

Luckily they were just corvettes. It could have been much worse!!

[Hammer278]

I like Corvettes. My first toy car during kindergarten was a 1/10th scale 'Vette with pullback action and it was my 'teddy bear' during nights.

Hope they manage to save these cars.

[sagi58]

The ZR1 Spyder is out and she's in a very sorry state indeed

ZR-1 Spyder Recovered from Corvette Museum Sinkhole
...While each sinkhole Corvette has a "story," that of the Spyder is one of the most interesting. The ZR-1 was not a convertible, but GM made only a few prototypes that were. This car was a full performance ZR-1 and was originally painted Sebring Silver with a Neutrino Yellow interior. It debuted at the 1991 North American Auto Show before being repainted black and having the interior changed to red.

"They didn't build a convertible ZR-1 to sell to the public. This is actually a car that General Motors took to different shows to show the car off," said Mike Williams, a member of the Museum's Facility team who's father helped build the car. According to a May 1991 article in Vette Magazine, "The ZR-1 Spyder represents the first time a concept car has ever been assembled on a production assembly line."

The car has many one-off features including custom billett aluminum wheels, a custom tonnau cover with waterfall (an influencer of the C5 Corvette waterfall), a chopped windshield half the normal height, lowered seats mounted directly to the floorpan allowing air to flow around your head, narrowed mirrors, side coves and a louvered hood. Mechanically, the Spyder is a stock 1990 ZR-1.

The underside of the Spyder's hood features signatures of all those involved in building the car. "They have not been able to retrieve the hood. We are still hoping they find it, but that's one of the big problems. When we displayed the car we wanted everybody to be able to see the signatures so when the car went in the hood was up, and it just snapped the hood off," added Williams...

Published on Mar 4, 2014

1962 Corvette Recovery Video, please credit the National Corvette Museum.