Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum consumes eight rare cars

Update: The National Corvette Museum has released a video of the sinkhole, which we've embedded below. Museum personnel are reportedly in the process of removing other cars from risky areas. We'll be sure to bring you more information as it becomes available.

A giant sinkhole has consumed eight Corvettes displayed at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. The museum is located near the Bowling Green Assembly Plant where Corvettes are built, and it features roughly 80 vehicles.

According to an official statement, the sinkhole opened up in the museum's so-called Skydome at 5:44 a.m. Since motion detectors first detected the trouble, the hole has grown to roughly 40 feet across and 25 to 30 feet deep.

The Corvettes swallowed by the sinkhole include:

-- 1993 ZR-1 Spyder

-- 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil”

-- 1962 Black Corvette

-- 1984 PPG Pace Car

-- 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette

-- 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette

-- 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette

-- 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

The first two cars are on loan from General Motors; the other six were property of the museum. There's no word yet on whether any of the cars are salvageable, but the one-of-a-kind 1983 Corvette survivor was spared.

Though the Skydome is separate from the rest of the museum's structures, the entire complex is reportedly closed for the day while a structural engineer inspects the damage.

We'll bring you more information when it becomes available.

National Corvette Museum
Eight cars were swallowed by the large sinkhole, and the museum has been closed pending investigation by a structural engineer.

By Graham Kozak