National Corvette Museum to Reveal Last Sinkhole ‘Vette
Third and final ‘Vette to be restored from 2014 sinkhole incident will be unveiled on the four-year anniversary of the tragedy.
On February 12, a restored Tuxedo Black 1962 Corvette will be unveiled at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The event will be live-streamed on Facebook. Why all the fanfare for an impeccably restored ’62? Well, this is the last of the repairable cars that fell into the sinkhole that opened up in the floor of the Skydome section of the museum in 2014. There were eight Corvettes that fell in, but only three that the museum deemed fixable. The other five will continue to be displayed in as-recovered condition.
The ’62 was donated to the museum by David Donoho in 2011. He owned the car for 50 years and purchased it after saving up enough money in high school. We don’t know many high schoolers nowadays who could manage that. Donoho’s friends apparently nicknamed him “The Weather Man” after getting the Vette. Why? He would carefully watch the weather and would immediately get the Corvette back home, in the safety of the garage, at any sign of rain. It’s obvious he paid for the car with his own money. Nothing like your own hard work to engender a sense of appreciation in a vehicle.
The restoration took place at the museum and has been in progress since 2017. Last February, Katie Frassinelli, Marketing and Communications Manager at the museum, said: “The car has been on display ‘as-is’ for nearly three years, so we thought to commemorate the third anniversary of the sinkhole, we would start the restoration work on the last Corvette to be repaired.” She added, “Almost all the work will be performed in-house by Daniel Decker, our Vehicle Maintenance and Preservation Coordinator. It’s exciting that guests will be able to see the car come back to life.”
Tune in at 9 a.m. Central on Feb. 12 to watch the reveal live on Facebook. Would you take the insurance money and get something else, or would you restore your tragically damaged Vette like the museum did? Join us on the forum and let us know what you think.
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