National Corvette Museum’s effort to remove the eight cars swallowed by a sinkhole last month got off to a triumphant start: The 2009 Corvette ZR1 “Blue Devil” pulled from the hole earlier this week drove away from the scene of the disaster under its …
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“Sad” is the only way to describe this once beautiful machine. I’ve seen this beauties many times during my visits to the museum (except the Blue Devil) that were or are in the sinkhole.
PPG Pace Car
This was a very unique vehicle. As you can see it was crushed with a slap of concrete. I think I read where one of the workers said it was “karate chopped”.
PPG Pace Car
Of all the damaged Vettes this one might just be the most impressive if they can restore it!!!!
“Initially there was no intention to bring the Millionth out, but as we got in there and saw more this morning we did feel like this might be our best chance,” said Danny Daniel, President of Scott, Murphy and Daniel Construction.
Danny indicated that they pulled the car by one wheel from where it was lodged and it swung free into the cavern. They were then able to lift the car and place it to rest, upside down on the bottom of the sinkhole. Finally, the Corvette was hooked up by its two tires for final lifting out of the sinkhole, much like the process to retrieve the 1993 40th Anniversary.
“Went like a champ, we were tickled to death,” added Daniel.
“The Millionth Corvette has been through a lot, but the damage at first glance seems to be less extensive than what it could have been, especially given the precarious spot the car landed,” said Bob Hellmann, Facilities and Displays Manager at the Museum. “The undercarriage and frame look to be in good condition and everything is repairable.”
The Millionth Corvette was built at 2:00pm on July 2, 1992 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Just like the first 1953 Corvettes, it bears a white exterior, red interior and is a convertible. The car was donated to the Corvette Museum by General Motors. In a press release from 1991, Jim Perkins, General Manager for Chevrolet at the time, said “We’ve been looking for a way to support the goals of the museum, which are to enshrine a great car and the great people who made it an American institution.” This donation came two years before the museum that exists today had opened its doors.
She looks a little rough to me.
I have to take a minute to give job well done to the crew working the rescue. Lots of people appreciate their efforts. I having pulled a RV from a 100 ravine with a tow truck, it’s nerve racking job….these guys are pros.
What do you get when you mix a national museum, a collection of collectable cars, and a series of interconnected subterranean caves? A massive sinkhole, that’s what. Yesterday morning curators at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky …
The removal of the first car is anticipated to take an hour, after which the ZR1 will be loaded onto a flatbed truck inside the Skydome and unloaded in the museum’s Exhibit Hall. After the first car, the museum-owned 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary…
Corvette Museum Media Alert
National Corvette Museum Retrieves First Corvette From Sinkhole
2009 “Blue Devil” ZR1 Emerges Nearly Unscathed
ZR-1 is out and started right up!!!
Crowds of construction personnel, media, Museum visitors and staff cheered as the first Corvette, the 2009 “Blue Devil” ZR1 emerged from the depths of the sinkhole this morning at approximately 10:35am CT. The process was streamed live on two of the Museum’s web cams with thousands of viewers tuning in all over the world.
“It’s wonderful… just seven more to go,” said Mike Murphy, construction manager for the project.
Even more cheers erupted when the car cranked up after only a few tries, and even drove about 20 feet to the doorway of the Skydome.
“That’s a GM product for you. They take a licking and keep on ticking!” added Murphy.
The crews have been working six days a week since the sinkhole incident that swallowed eight Corvettes in the National Corvette Museum’s Skydome exhibit area. This past Saturday, the crews rigged up the ZR1 and did a few test lifts. John Spencer, Manufacturing Integration Manager at the GM Corvette Assembly Plant, helped consult the team on the best points to strap up the car. “With Mike, worker safety is number one. There are no compromises,” said Spencer.
“I was worried about the wheels,” said Murphy. “This morning we took so long because we wanted to add some secondary straps in case the wheels pulled. It was just a little more insurance.”
Murphy added that with this project, nothing is set in stone on how to do it. “It’s been a huge relief. It went better than expected,” he said.
After the elation of the first car being rescued and even cranking up, the Museum staff were excited to put the car back on display in the Museum’s Exhibit Hall. “It’s incredible to have the car back on display again. It’s what we’ve been hoping for,” said Bob Hellmann, Facilities and Displays Manager. “Now we just want to get the next seven, restore the cars, and get them all back on display.”
The Museum plans on displaying the cars as they are recovered, now through August 3. In addition, this Spring they plan to create a special display with information on the sinkhole incident, sinkholes and karst background details, videos, photos and more.
After taking a lunch break, the crew will resume the car retrieval process – with the 1993 “Ruby Red” 40th Anniversary Corvette slated for recovery Monday afternoon. The 1962 Black Corvette is planned to be retrieved on Tuesday, but will be much trickier as a five ton slab of concrete is partially resting on the front of the car. Two cranes will be used to simultaneously lift the car and the concrete.
Links to photos, videos and press releases are available on the Museum’s website at www.corvettemuseum.org. For the latest updates visit the Museum’s Facebook Fan page at www.facebook.com/corvettemuseum.
Thanks for reading
Tim
RT @corvettemuseum: The first #corvette being lifted out of the #sinkhole – 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil. http://t.co/u7NmVWgE7w
RT @joeimel: See gallery of photos from the removal of the 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil from a sinkhole at the #NCM http://t.co/91dGv5VZKS http://t.…
Here are your Auto Factoids for the first week of March 2014.
3/4/1902 – American Automobile Association was formed. We call ‘Triple A” and most of us think about it as an insurance or travel agency with roadside assistance and it is that for sure. It was formed by nine motor clubs in a response to a lack of roads and highways suitable for automobiles. The group in part included the Chicago Automobile Club, Automobile Club of America, Automobile Club of New Jersey, and others. They began producing maps 1905 and hotel guides in 1917. The association branched out to include other programs such as teh Racing Board in 1902 to officiate the Vanderbilt Cup International Automobile Race in long island. This board alwo sanctioned the Indianapolis 500 and give the awards for national racing championships in 1905, 1916, 1920-1941 and 1946-1955.
3/5/1971 – Rolls-Royce get a bail-out loan from the Brittish Goverment
’71 Silver Shadow
Same day in 1952 Willis introduces the Aero-Ace. These came with the Hurricane 6 or the Lightning 6
Areo Ace
3/7/1929 – GM buys Opel
Opel was a Germany car company that produced it’s first cars were produced in 1899. Before that they were in the sowing machine and bicycle business. Opel designed and manufactured vehicles are also sold under the Buick brand in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China and the Vauxhall brand in the United Kingdom.
3/8/1969 – Pontiac give the world the iconic Trans Am
The Trans Am was a package for the Firebird. Although there were a total of 87,000 plus Firebirds and Trans Am produced for the year, there are some rare Trans Am’s put together:
114 Trans Am’s carried the L-74 RAM AIR III V8 between the fenders with the Turbo-Hydramatic
520 Trans Ams had the same L-74 and RAM set up only with the synchromesh transmission
There only 8 Trans Ams convertibles made and they all had the L-74s. If that’s not rare enough, try this: 4 of those had manual transmissions and 4 had the Hydramatic.
Likewise you count the number of Trans-Ams that were equipped with L-67 RAM AIR IV and the Turbo-Hydramatic in single digits – 9. There were 46 more that had the the synchromesh trans.
So begins the narrator for “Against All Odds,” a documentary of the 1971 Trans Am 2.5 Challenge season about the BRE Datsun team, conveniently sponsored by Datsun. (“The small car experts!” avarious Datsun ads exclaim throughout the film. “Over 900 …
RT @tomjensen100: Wow, a 1969 Firebird Trans Am goes for $135k. #barrettjackson @foxsports http://t.co/tjn9MLmbsR
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1,000,000 Corvette was pulled from the sinkhole at the Corvette Museum today.
