[VIDEO] GM Pledges to Restore the Fallen Eight Corvettes from the NCM Sinkhole

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[VIDEO] GM Pledges to Restore the Fallen Eight Corvettes from the NCM Sinkhole

During a press conference at the NCM today, General Motors pledged to restore all eight Corvettes that were damaged when the sinkhole opened under the floor in the Skydome on Wednesday. The Corvettes will be restored to their former glory and overseeing that restoration will be GM’s Vice President of Global Design Ed Welburn.

General Motors officially owns two of the Corvettes that were damaged in the sinkhole, the 2009 Corvette ZR1 Blue Devil and the 1993 ZR-1 Spyder convertible. The other six are owned by the Museum.

“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.”

Once the cars are recovered from the sinkhole, they will be transported to the Warren Tech Center in Michigan where they will undergo a review to determine the process for restoration.

The group doing the restoration inside GM is the Mechanical Assembly Shop, a small specialty shop within GM Design. The Mechanical Assembly Shop has been part of GM since the 1930’s and they are noted for their restoration and preservation of the production and concept vehicles that are in GM’s Heritage Center.

The Fallen Eight Corvettes from the NCM
Photo Credit: David Hale

According to the contractors who where hired by the Museum to recover the cars and repair the building, the process will take approximately two to three weeks to stabilize the building and the sinkhole, and then about 4-6 days to remove the cars.

The eight Corvettes involved in the sinkhole disaster are:

  • 1993 ZR-1 Spyder (General Motors)
  • 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” (General Motors)
  • 1962 Black Corvette
  • 1984 PPG Pace Car
  • 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
  • 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
  • 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
  • 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

The Museum is covered by insurance including damage from sinkholes but we can imagine additional costs arising from the event. If you would like to make a donation to the building fund, the NCM has set up a donation page on www.CorvetteMuseum.org to accept contributions from members and enthusiasts alike.

You can watch today’s press conference here:


Source:
General Motors

Related:
Corvette Museum Hires Contractor to Help Recover Corvettes Lost in Sinkhole
These are the Eight Corvettes that Fell into the Corvette Museum’s Sinkhole
BREAKING NEWS: A Sinkhole Under the National Corvette Museum Opens and Swallows 8 Corvettes

 



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