Remember when the National Corvette Museum was nothing more than the place for pilgrimage for… uhm, Corvette people? That changed after the morning of February 12, 2014, following the “Corvette Sinkhole” incident that brought an abundance of media coverage, spanning the entire world.
The 40-foot sinkhole, which came to be because of the karst topography, took with it eight rare examples of America’s sports car. It was caused by the dissolving limestone in the ground under the museum. The concrete slabs of the floor fell into the sinkhole along with the cars, but every single one of those prized Corvette vehicles has been salvaged from the dirt pit.
See the 1962 Corvette in the main photo and gallery? It’s the last to be restored, and the National Corvette Museum announced that Tuxedo Black is making a comeback on February 12, 2018. “The restored 1962 will be placed back in its original pre-sinkhole display space in the Skydome and revealed to the public,” highlights the museum. Also, did you notice the date?
February 12 marks the fourth anniversary of the sinkhole saga, which is a fitting ending for what started life as a tragedy. It’s genius how the museum turned a disaster into a tourist attraction. It goes without saying that someone from the NCM is the type who thinks outside the box in regard to the phrase that goes like “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
Black Tuxedo was donated to the museum in 2011 by David Donoho, an enthusiast who owned the car for almost 50 years before he decided to give the old lady a new home. Nicknamed “The Weather Man” because he would always hide his ’62 from the rain when there was a chance of bad weather, Donoho bought the old-school ‘Vette when he has in high school.
“For me, it’s been an honor to perform the restoration of the 1962,” said Daniel Decker, vehicle maintenance and preservation coordinator of the AutoZone Maintenance and Preservation Area of the NCM.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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