Eight historic Corvettes perished when a sinkhole erupted at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky.
Four years ago, legions of Corvette fans wept when a massive sinkhole swallowed eight historic one-off Corvettes at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky. Ironically, the disaster generated publicity as the site became a popular tourist attraction allowing visitors to pay their respects and mourn over the wrecked Corvettes in person. Some survived the sinkhole relatively unscathed, while others were damaged beyond recognition. Since the disaster, the hole has been mostly filled and two of the Corvettes were restored by General Motors.
Last year, work began on bringing the final repairable Corvette back to its original condition, which has been painstakingly restored in-house at the AutoZone Maintenance and Preservation Area in the museum and was viewable by visitors. Specifically, the final restored car is a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette finished in Tuxedo Black. It was donated to the museum in 2011 by David Donoho, a die-hard enthusiast who saved up enough money to buy the car in high school, and went on to own the car for over 50 years. His obsession with the car even earned him the nickname “The Weather Man” as his friends would mock him for monitoring the weather and taking his Corvette home if there was any chance of rain.
The final fully restored Corvette will be displayed at the museum on February 12 to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the sinkhole disaster. "For me, it’s been an honor to perform the restoration of the 1962," said Vehicle Maintenance and Preservation Coordinator Daniel Decker. "This Corvette as well as the other seven made international headlines. Visitors travel from all over the world to visit our Museum and see these cars. I can’t wait for them to see the transformation."
This story, by Marin Bigg, first appeared on carbuzz.com
Photo courtesy National Corvette Museum
