Classic Corvettes that were swallowed by a gaping sinkhole beneath the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky will be restored by Chevrolet.
GM's head of global product development Mark Reuss said Thursday the damaged vehicles are some of the most significant in auto history.
He says the company wants to restore as many of them as possible so auto fans can enjoy them.
The sinkhole consumed eight prized cars like they were toys early Wednesday when the museum was closed. Six of the cars are owned by the museum in Bowling Green, Ky., and two are on loan from General Motors.
The museum said the cars are a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and 2009 ZR1 "Blue Devil" on loan from General Motors; a 1962 Black Corvette; 1984 PPG Pace Car; 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette; 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette; 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette and a 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette.
Strode told the Courier-Journal that emergency personnel allowed museum staff to remove the only surviving 1983 Corvette, which was at risk of joining the other cars in the sinkhole.
“Before we do anything, like remove the other cars, we want that assessment so we know if there’s been any structural damage to the Sky Dome,” Strode told the Courier-Journal.
Chevrolet says the restoration will be done in Michigan.
An estimate of the cost of the damage done to vehicles and the museum had not been determined as of Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.