A sinkhole estimated at 40 feet across and 25 to 30 feet deep opened in the Skydome display area at the National Corvette Museum early this morning, swallowing eight displayed Corvettes. The facility was unoccupied so no one was hurt.
(That’s a good thing. Folks could easily have been injured or killed.)
The affected cars are:
- 1962
- 1984 PPG Pace Car
- 1992, the 1,000,000th Corvette
- 1993 ZR-1 Spyder
- 1993 40th Anniversary
- 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06
- 2009 ZR1 (the “Blue Devil” car)
- 2009, the 1,500,000th Corvette
There are many photographs of the sinkhole, as well as the cars pre-sinkhole, here.
Of this list, only the 1962 and the 1993 40th Anniversary are fungible production cars (and the ’62 looks like it may have received only minor damage). The Mallett Hammer Z06 is a modified limited edition. The other five cars are one degree or another of irreplaceable.
However, it’s probably only the 1984 PPG Pace Car that is a potential real challenge, as it is a one-off prototype.
There is only one 1,000,000th Corvette and only one 1,500,000th Corvette, of course. However, apart from their respective places on the production line, they are otherwise unremarkable and will be easy to repair. The ZR-1 Spyder and ZR1 “Blue Devil,” both on loan from General Motors, are one-of-a-kind development mules, but both quite close to standard production cars. They shouldn’t be too hard to deal with either. (Actually the “Blue Devil” is sitting right on top. Its damage, or lack thereof, may be comparable to the ’62.)
As I’ve written before, the National Corvette Museum is a special place for us. Though I hate to see these eight beautiful cars damaged, they’re just stuff, and they’ll get repaired. I’m very glad no one was hurt.
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A link to Mammoth Cave?
Could be, easily. They only look to be about 20 miles apart, and Mammoth Cave has hundreds of miles of passages.