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Nearly Two Months Later, Final Corvette Pulled From Sinkhole

National Corvette Museum

The last Corvette remaining in the giant, 50-foot sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green has been removed. 

Crews pulled up the badly-crushed,  2001 Mallett Hammer Z-06 using a crane Wednesday afternoon.

"You would think there would be tears of happiness to pull the last one out, but it's not even recognizable, so I think that created a somber mood among everybody," said the museum's Communications Director Katie Frassinelli.  "You usually save the best for last, but in this case, it was definitely the worst."

The Mallett Hammer was one of two Corvettes that had not been seen since the February 12th sinkhole collapse. 

The car was donated to the museum last December by a Florida couple who modified it into a racing car.  The Mallett Hammer was supposed to be used at the new Motorsports Park.

All eight cars will be on display at the museum through early August. They will then be shipped to Michigan for restoration. 

It took nearly two months to unearth all eight vintage automobiles. 

A look at the cars removed from the sinkhole, in the order in which they were removed:

March 3: 2009 ZR1 "Blue Devil"*
                1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
March 4: 1962 Black Corvette
March 5: 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
                 1984 PPG Pace Car
April 1:  1993 ZR-1 Spyder*
April 3:  2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette
April 9:  2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette

*Car on loan from General Motors. The remaining six are owned by the National Corvette Museum.
 

The award-winning news team at WKU Public Radio consists of Dan Modlin, Kevin Willis, Lisa Autry, and Joe Corcoran.
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