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ZR1 Blue Devil Corvette, rescued from sinkhole, exits on its own power

ZR1 Blue Devil Corvette was the last car to fall in the sinkhole and the first one rescued. The other seven vehicles at the National Corvette Museum apparently sustained more damage than the ZR1 Blue Devil Corvette.  

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Adam Boca/Chevrolet/Handout via Reuters
Workers use a crane to recover the 2009 ZR-1 'Blue Devil' Corvette from the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ken., March 3, 2014. The 40-foot sinkhole swallowed eight collector cars.
  • By Jeff Glucker Guest blogger

Work has begun in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Back in mid-February, a massive sinkhole opened up directly underneath the Skydome at the National Corvette Museum. Eight unfortunate Corvettes that were on display dropped into the hole, and the damage estimates began swirling in. These are extremely rare machines, and they had just (literally) fallen victim to an unexpected act of nature. (MUST SEE: LaFerrari Vs. Enzo In Ferrari Flagship Rev Off: Video)

Now, however, is the time to look towards the positives. The very first car has been just been recovered.

It's the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, otherwise known as the Blue Devil. This is the prototype version that helped shape the production ZR1. It's been plucked from its landing zone, around 30 feet below the floor on which it originally sat. It also turns out to be a sturdy machine. After being removed from the sinkhole, the car was fired up and driven out of the museum. (DON'T MISS: 2015 Ford Mustang GT350 Spy Shots & Video) 

That's one tough Corvette, and we're happy to see that the cars are finally being rescued, one by one. After the cars are removed, the museum will begin the construction process required to make sure that the Skydome can open for business again in the near future.

UPDATE: The second Corvette has now been removed from the sinkhole. It's a 1993 40th Anniversary Edition, affectionately known as Ruby. We also have video of the car being raised up from its sinkhole grave, as well as video of the Blue Devil being started and then driven about 15 feet.

Unfortunately, it's pretty clear that Ruby has taken on far more damage than Blue Devil. We expect the rest of the cars to look more like this, as the first car pulled out was resting on top of the others.

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