Work continues on extracting the remaining cars from the sinkhole [1] at the National Corvette Museum [2] that consumed eight of the classic sports cars back in February, with the latest recovery being the ZR-1 Spyder. While some of the cars came out relatively intact (the C6 ZR1 was even drivable, albeit briefly [3]), others were quite badly damaged.
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[7]This particular car, a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder built for the 1991 North American Auto Show, really took it in the shorts, landing nose down and partially buried at the bottom of a dogpile of other Corvettes.
Once the Millionth Corvette and the PPG Pace Car were extracted, workers set to the task of freeing the Spyder, which unlike the previous cars required literal boots on the ground, and hand-shoveling before the Corvette could be lifted in stages.
With its custom body panels, this ZR-1 will be one of the more challenging Sinkhole Corvettes to repair and restore to its former glory. The recovery operation at the NCM is headed into the home stretch, and once the last of the Corvettes is removed, work can finally begin on filling the chasm and rebuilding the Skydome on a solid foundation.
While we’re not geologists or engineers, we have a suggestion though – maybe all those “loaner” first-gen Vipers that Chrysler wants back so they can crush them [8] would make good filler material…
For more photos of the sinkhole recovery operation, check out the NCM’s Smugmug account [9].