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Massive sinkhole swallows classic cars

BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky —  A gaping sinkhole opened beneath the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky and swallowed eight iconic cars like they were toys.

The sinkhole opened up on February 2014 while the attraction, dedicated to the classic American sports car, was closed to visitors.

VIDEO: Sinkhole swallows iconic cars

Kentucky University engineering professor Matt Dettman said: "They're all just kind of nose-down in the bottom of the hole."

Katie Frassinelli museum spokesperson said six of the cars were owned by the museum and two, a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil, were on loan from General Motors. 

ICONIC CARS DAMAGED

The damaged cars were a 1962 black Corvette, a 1984 PPG Pace Car, a 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette, a 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette, a 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette and a 2009 white 1.5 Millionth Corvette.

Museum executive director Wendell Strode said: "All of these have a unique story behind them, they're special."

An Indiana man donated the 1962 Corvette before his death. He babied it so much he wouldn't drive it in the rain.

The museum has insurance coverage for the damage to the cars and the structure, he said.

No injuries were reported.

Frassinelli said no one was in the museum at the time. The museum said a structural engineering company determined the perimeter of the domed area as stable.


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