Classic Corvettes rescued from Kentucky sinkhole

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - When Corvettes roar to life, the reaction of people around is rarely as exciting as it was at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky recently.

Last month, a giant sinkhole opened up under the museum during off hours, swallowing eight of the classic cars.

Six of the cars were owned by the museum, including 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. Another two were on loan from GM, including a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 Blue Devil.

The Blue Devil, when it emerged from the 60-foot-deep and 40-foot-wide hole, gave onlookers something to smile about.

"We cranked it and it started right up for us- that's incredible," said Bob Hellmann with the museum. "It was very exciting and that- something I'll treasure for the rest of my life. I'll tell you. It was good."

The delicate rescue operation brought the Blue Devil back to the surface in about two hours.

Surprisingly after falling so far, the Corvette was barely damaged, just a few scratches and cracks.

A 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette wasn't so lucky. The window glass and body panels need to be replaced.

There are still six cars buried below, including a 1962 black Corvette that the workers will try to recover today.

They're not expected to be rolling as soon as the Blue Devil, but Chevrolet plans to restore all of them to their former glory.

The entire recovery operation is expected to last until mid-April.