GM News: General Motors Says They Will Fix The Corvettes Damaged In The Sinkhole

[William Maley]

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Back on Wednesday, we reported that the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky had a sinkhole open up and take with it eight Corvettes; two of those on loan from General Motors. Now, GM is stepping and saying it will fix all of the Corvettes.

In a statement, GM says the damaged Corvettes will be shipped to the GM Motors Design facilities in the Warren Tech Center where they will get a look over and be fixed. GM's vice president of global design, Ed Wellburn will look over the process.

“There can only be one 1-millionth Corvette ever built. We want to ensure as many of the damaged cars are restored as possible so fans from around the world can enjoy them when the Museum reopens,” said Mark Reuss, executive vice president of General Motors Global Product Development.

Before the vehicles can be shipped, they first need to be extracted out of the sinkhole. During a press conference today at the National Corvette Museum, contractor Mike Murphy says it will take two to three weeks to stabilize the sinkhole area. Once stabilized, Murphy says it will take four to six days for the vehicles to be extracted.

Source: General Motors, Automobile Magazine

Pic Credit: National Corvette Museum

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected]or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

Press Release is on Page 2

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Chevrolet to Oversee Restoration of Historic Corvettes

• Museum cars damaged in sinkhole collapse will be shipped to Warren Mich.
  

DETROIT – To help the National Corvette Museum recover from the massive sinkhole that opened under the facility this week, Chevrolet will oversee restoration of the Corvettes damaged. General Motors Design in Warren, Mich., will lead the project.

“The vehicles at the National Corvette Museum are some of the most significant in automotive history,” said Mark Reuss, executive vice president of General Motors Global Product Development. “There can only be one 1-millionth Corvette ever built. We want to ensure as many of the damaged cars are restored as possible so fans from around the world can enjoy them when the Museum reopens.”

Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design, will oversee the restoration.

When the cars are recovered, they will be shipped to the Mechanical Assembly facility, a small specialty shop within GM Design, where the best restoration approach will be determined. Mechanical Assembly has been part of GM Design since the 1930s, and today maintains and restores many of the vehicles in the GM Heritage Collection and GM’s historic concept cars.

The National Corvette Museum is independently owned, and supported solely by charitable donations from enthusiasts. It is currently accepting donations on its website to assist in refurbishing the facility. Donations are tax-deductible.

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[G. David Felt]

YES YES YES, Thank you GM, Please Video tape the Restoration process and show it on TV. Many would love to see these special auto's being restored and learn more about them.

[daves87rs]

YES YES YES, Thank you GM, Please Video tape the Restoration process and show it on TV. Many would love to see these special auto's being restored and learn more about them.

I agree with this.....

[hyperv6]

Oh I did not figure these cars would be lost. If GM did not do it I expected the Corvette community would have come in to do it.

The only car that will be difficult to restore is the PPG car since it has one off DGP custom body panels. Of course that is the one that fell in first and is up side down under the ZR1 Blue Devil.

As for the other cars there is little that is not available or beyond reproducing pretty easily.

I just wonder how this will affect some owners loaning their cars in the future. They say lighting does not hit twice but if I have a Million Dollar L88 would I still believe those odds? LOL!

It was not long ago the Lingenfelter collection was there in the fall. There were some cars there that would have been even more tragic to lose. One was the Sledgehammer and the other was Zora's personal test car from the early 50's.