Vintage and Exotic Car Restoration Livermore - First Corvette Museum sinkhole victim restored [w/video] - FZ Restoration - 925-294-5666

When a sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum opened up in Bowling Green, KY and gobbled up eight important examples of the American sports car in February, videos almost made it look like the hole picked the perfect spot to do the most damage to as many vehicles as possible. None of the cars made it away unharmed, but some were luckier than others. The Skydome sinkhole quickly became a national sensation, and Chevrolet smartly stepped in to offer restoration assistance with the damaged cars. The2009 Corvette ZR1 Blue Devil shown above is the first such vehicle to complete its restoration process at the hands of the automaker.

The Blue Devil was one of the two examples to debut that supercharged monster Corvette in 2008, and it was on display on loan from Chevy itself when the sinkhole pulled the coupe in. However, the ZR1 was also the luckiest of the bunch because it was actually still drivable after being lifted out of the hole of debris.

Being drivable didn't mean that the 'Vette wasn't harmed, though. The Blue Devil suffered significant damage, including a cracked carbon fiber ground effects, cracked doors and a mangled passenger-side front fender. Mechanically, the car also had bent rear control arms and cracked oil lines. The work only took the restorers at the General Motors Heritage Center about six weeks to bring the ZR1 back to shining condition. Its first stop now is to go on display at this week's SEMA Show.

The Heritage Center's next restoration projects are the 1-millionth Corvette from 1992 and the 1962 Corvette from the sinkhole, but the other five cars will remain as they are. National Corvette Museum spokesperson Katie Frassinelli tells Autoblog that all of the cars are being removed from the Skydomefor its repairs, and she notes that the museum is planning a grand reopening of the wing next July when it plans to put them back on display. Scroll down to see a video of how the Blue Devil looks now and read the announcement of its restoration.

source: autoblog

by Chris Bruce

http://www.fzrestoration.com