The historic 1 millionth Chevrolet Corvette swallowed by the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in 2014 is being restored at the General Motors Design Center.
Craftspeople and technicians working on the project are part of GM’s Mechanical Assembly group at the Design Center, which typically builds prototype and concept vehicles.
The white 1992 Corvette is the second of three sinkhole-damaged Corvettes that Chevrolet has pledged to restore. The first, a 2009 Corvette ZR1 prototype known as the Blue Devil, was only lightly damaged and was restored last fall. The restoration of the third car, a 1962 Corvette, will be overseen by The National Corvette Museum. The five other Corvettes swallowed by the sinkhole will not be restored, as the museum wants “to preserve the historical significance of the cars.” They will become part of a future sinkhole-themed display at the museum.
A 45-by-60 feet wide and 30-foot deep sinkhole opened up on February 12, 2014, swallowing eight historic Corvettes – two on loan from GM and six owned by the museum. The two cars on loan were the 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” prototype. The other six cars were the 1962 Corvette, 1984 PPG Pace Car, 1992 1 millionth Corvette, 1993 40th Anniversary Corvette, 2001 “Mallett Hammer” Z06 and 2009 1.5 millionth Corvette.
The 2009 Blue Devil was the first car recovered from the sinkhole on March 3. Despite significant damage, the car was started and driven out of the Skydome. A month later, the 1.5 millionth Corvette and Mallet Corvette were the last cars pulled from the sinkhole, after workers were initially unable to find them amid the collapsed earth.