Bowling Green, Ky., is where the General Motors plant that manufactures Corvettes is located, right across the freeway from NCM Motorsports Park. It’s where new owners can take delivery of their cars and wring them out on a real racetrack, which is quickly becoming a favorite among NASA drivers in that region. NASA Great Lakes visits the track twice a year.
When you go to NCM Motorsports Park, you have to go to the National Corvette Museum, which is open till 5 p.m. on weekends. The museum houses more than 80 cars from all generations, some priceless one-off prototypes and specially numbered editions. There are two quick films about the Corvette its history and where it’s built and lots of interactive displays throughout the facility.
Of course, everyone knows about the sinkhole that opened up beneath museum and swallowed eight cars, destroying a couple of them in the process. Museum curators had the cars repaired that were salvageable, but those that could not be fixed were pulled from the sinkhole and put back on display, still dusted with Kentucky red clay. The “sinkhole incident” is now a part of the museum’s displays. Yes, they made lemonade out of arguably bitter lemons.
Measuring 115,000 square feet, the National Corvette Museum is open seven days a week year-round and closed only on New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
