Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The National Corvette Museum. More than just a sinkhole

I’ve told you repeatedly how much I love Corvettes.  I find them at car shows and auctions all the time.  I’ve been to Corvette-only events.  I’ve written test drive reports about them.   But I’ve never been to the mecca of Corvettes.  Until now.  The National Corvette Museum is only about an hour north of Nashville in Bowling Green, Ky.  Once I figured that out, it didn’t take me long to get there.  You probably know that this museum has been in the news quite a bit lately because of the sinkhole that swallowed up a few of the Corvettes on display.  But I can tell you that there’s a lot more to this museum than that.

This one really stood out to me.  It’s a ’56 model known as the Sebring Team Car #7.  Max Goldman raced it back in 1956 at various tracks, and General Motors used it to test experimental performance parts.  Corvette stylist Bob McClean later purchased this car and updated the nose, taillights, and interior.  It reminds me of the Corvette SS, which is one of the greatest Corvettes ever.  Plus, it has a great history that dates back to the beginning.

Throughout its life, people have knocked around the idea of a mid-engine Corvette.  Chevrolet took that idea to another level when they introduced the Astro-Vette and the Astro II in 1968.  They were a complete departure from the Corvettes you could buy in showrooms, yet they still looked like Corvettes.  I just remember having toys of these and seeing pictures when I was a kid, and I just thought they were neat looking.  So when I got to see both of them sitting nose-to-nose in the National Corvette Museum, I have to say, I was pretty excited.

If you ask most Corvette fans, they will tell you that they never built Corvettes in 1983.  That’s not exactly true.  They actually built 44 of them, which were used for testing purposes.  None of them were sold to the public, however, and 43 of the 44 were destroyed once they were no longer needed.  One remains—car number 23.  And here it is at the National Corvette Museum.  I remember back in 1983, my dad brought home a Corvette catalog that featured a Corvette with these wheels on it.  But again, they were never offered to the public.  Yet another detail that makes this Corvette one-of-a-kind.

Of course, the cars that everyone is interested these days are the eight that were yanked out of the sinkhole.  The later they were pulled out, the deeper they were, and the more damage they had.  The last one to come out was the 2001 Mallet Hammer Z06.  There was talk about restoring all the cars that fell down there, but I honestly don’t see anything here to restore.  I guess they could build another one and transfer the VIN and serial number information.  But short of doing something like that, it just doesn’t look too promising.

On the other hand, this little black-over-red ’62 was the second car rescued from the hole, and it was clearly restorable.  I don’t think there was anything extraordinarily special about this car, but if did look like it was a very nicely restored example of the last of the straight-axles.  It is pretty beat up, so it will most likely require a complete restoration, but at least it wasn’t buried or squashed or anything.  They were pretty lucky with this one, because these old fiberglass bodies are pretty fragile.

The Museum is right next to the actual factory where new Corvettes are built.  So the lobby was full of new Corvette Stingrays in all colors.  Plus, you could look in and see new cars that people were going to come pick up in person.  The new Corvette is in many ways better than any Corvette made before it.  I think that’s cool.  Here’s a car that has one of the greatest histories of any car ever built, and they are still living up to their potential today.  You can’t say that about many other iconic things.  The Vette still has it.

I took pictures of all the Corvettes in the National Corvette Museum, including several pictures of all eight cars that were pulled out of the sinkhole.  Check them out in the slideshow below, or click this link for a nicer version.

15 comments:

  1. Thanks for visiting! Enjoyed your post and the photos are amazing.

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  2. nicely done story and photos....I too am a Corvette fan and Corvette owner. Nice photos!

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  3. Nice write up. I've been to the museum a few times, but not in a few years. On one occasion I also had the factory tour. I recommend that to anyone and everyone. At that time, they were still making C5s, and they were still making Caddy XLR there at the time. The XLR-V was done separately by hand in a corner. I learned the hydroformed frame was steel on the regular Corvettes but aluminum for the Z06, using the same rig. About the mid engined concepts: Did you know?: you probably know that one or more of these mid engined concepts had a rotary engine, but what some do not know is GM, while it was still seriously developing a rotary for the Corvette, was supposed to supply a rotary to AMC for use in its Pacer. The Pacer's engine bay and drivetrain layout was designed to accommodate it, and was ill suited to anything else. But at the 11th hour, GM cancelled its rotary program, leaving AMC holding the potato. And we all know how the Pacer turned out.

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    1. As best as I can recall it was the Chevy Monza that was supposed to get the rotary engine. They ended up stuffing the small-block V8 into it instead. Story goes that repair mechanics had to punch holes in the wheel wells in order to change spark plugs without removing the engine. And of course the Monza didn't turn out any better than the Pacer.

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    2. Yes firs the Vega then after postponement due to development delays the Monza 2=2, then the scrapping of it, all of which I did not mention because it's not Corvette related, but was showcased in the XP-882 Aerovette of 1973, and I was referring just to the intent to supply the pacer.

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  4. Great post! My Dad got me into corvettes as a kid, leading up to his purchasing one in 1979. (We all had to look, every time one drove by us on the road, & then after we had one in the family, we all still had to look, while he got to wave!) I bought my '94 convertible in 1999, & still have it (with under 60,000 miles on it!). I always said I would visit the museum when I ordered my next one (& pick it up there, & drive it back to New England) which won't be for a couple more years, but your post & your photos make me want to visit NOW! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  5. Awesome article! The photos a are amazing! Can't wait for next week when I get to the BASH!!!!

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  7. Wonderful Article, Thank you for sharing all these fantastic photo's. The Corvette has always been my favorite dream car in life. When I see the photos of those grand cars that went into the sink hole I can't help but, tear up because it just makes my heart hurt every time.

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  8. I'M A BIT CONFUSED THIS SINK HOLE INCIDENT HAPPENED ABOUT A MONTH AGO HOW MANY CORVETTES FELL IN THIS HOLE? HOW BIG WAS IT? IT'S CRAZY THEY ARE STILL RECOVERING CARS

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    1. The last of 8 corvettes was pulled from the hole last week. Damages ranged from superficial to catastrophic, The last one was so badly mangled that it's doubtful any part of it can be restored. Best they can do is build a replica. Check the Corvette Museum website and facebook pages for details.

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  9. Craig,
    As you know, I am as well a Corvette Lover. Did I ever send you the article or attachment regarding the SR2 56 Corvette that my brother Dwayne was able to buy for our Larchwood, Iowa Dealership? It was one of only 6 or 7 Sebring Corvettes ever built. Actually, except for 1 or 2 of them, the others were supposed to be destroyed. If I didn't send it to you, let me know and I will email the info to you. Roger Grotewold Larchwood & Lemars, Iowa. Incidently, back in the 50's, we were the largest Corvette Dealer in both the Omaha and Denver Zones. Larchwood at the time had a population of 417.

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  10. I to finally got to see the museum 1 month to the day of the sink hole accident I was so lucky I will always remember the vette display the way it was I have a 1987 and I always wanted a vetted and am proud to have mine thanks to the museum staff and all repairing the museum thanks thad

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  11. I to finally got to see the museum 1 month to the day of the sink hole accident I was so lucky I will always remember the vette display the way it was I have a 1987 and I always wanted a vetted and am proud to have mine thanks to the museum staff and all repairing the museum thanks thad

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  12. This was a fascinating read. Thank you so very much !

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