Lucas Bell 
While not everything related to the Corvette was halted in Bowling Green over the past few months, the sport’s cars dedicated museum did shut its doors for 12 weeks amid the pandemic. During that time period however, the National Corvette Museum was able to finish renovations that started back in November, bringing a host of new exhibits. The crown jewel of which is the new mid-engine Corvette exhibit, which shows off some pretty important prototypes that pre-date the C8 Corvette.
The newly minted exhibit is called The Vision Realized: 60 Years of Mid-Engine Corvette Design, and it follows the Corvette’s journey as GM aimed to fulfill Zora Arkus-Duntov’s original dream. Early prototypes such as the rotary-powered XP-987 GT sit side by side with projects like the Corvette Indy. The new exhibit wouldn’t be complete of course without a least a few C8 Corvettes, and we already know the museum has taken delivery of one of the prototype models. A factory-spec 2020 model has also been added to the show floor.
Other updates not related to the Mid-Engine Corvette include the newly-named E. Pierce Marshall Memorial Performance Gallery, which is chock full of some of the greatest Corvette race cars to ever hit the tarmac. The upgraded exhibit now features interactive displays and 180-degree video footage, for those who aren’t entirely encapsulated by the metal itself.
The museum’s sinkhole exhibit has also been tweaked, now offering a simulated view of the cavern that was formed thanks to some virtual reality. The exhibit even features all eight of the cars that met their demise in the sinkhole, including the one millionth Corvette, the 1.5 millionth Corvette, and the oh-so-cool 1991 ZR-1 Spyder.
The National Corvette Museum opened up their doors yesterday, and they will maintain their normal business hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
