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GM to restore legendary Corvette damaged in sinkhole accident

Car lover's hearts' sank when they saw images of bent and destroyed classic Corvettes at the bottom of a sinkhole last February after the floor of the National Corvette Museum gave way. General Motors announced Wednesday it would restore the one millionth Corvette ever produced to its former glory. The 1992 convertible was heavily damaged when a 40-foot deep sinkhole opened beneath a bevy of rare cars at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since then, GM has been slowly restoring the classic cars, though five of the eight that caught in the sinkhole were determined to be too damaged to repair. This November, the 2009 Corvette ZR1 Blue Devil was the first car to be returned in mint condition to the Museum, according to Autoblog. It suffered significant damage but was still drivable after being pulled out of the debris. The one millionth Corvette is still in bad shape. The automaker is estimating six months worth of work to restore the car, which sustained paint scratches, rear-suspension damage and a mangled front fender. Related Gallery Consumer Reports Most Loved Cars 2014 Chevrolet GM Automotive History corvette famous cars sinkhole corvette museum

GM cutting production at two plants

General Motors is continuing to adjust to excess supply of some of its brands' models. To get production more in line with the vehicles' actual demand, the automotive giant is idling two of its factories in North America in the coming months. The Orion Assembly plant is going to be down from March 9-13, according to an anonymous plant worker and another insider speaking to Automotive News. The factory builds the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano, but there are plenty of both models sitting on dealer lots, including 216 days worth of Sonics, according to AN. The factory already had two idle periods announced to reduce the excess. In addition, downtime is scheduled at GM's "Flex" line at the Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, plant from April 13-17. This affects supply of the Chevrolet Camaro, Impala, Buick Regal and Cadillac XTS. Among them, the automotive giant has the largest supply of Regals ready for dealers with 213 days worth of them, according to AN. The future for the whole Oshawa factory is cloudy in general, though. There are rumors that it could close entirely in the future because the Camaro is leaving and the Regal and XTS might not last much longer than 2017. The Canadian government and the labor union there intend to put up a fight, though. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM orion assembly oshawa plant idle

Chevrolet Silverado reportedly getting the GMC Sierra's MultiPro tailgate

GMC reinvented the pickup tailgate when it added a six-way option named MultiPro to the current-generation Sierra it introduced in 2019. It kept this clever feature to itself as a way to differentiate the Sierra from the Chevrolet Silverado, but a recent report claims it will begin sharing it in the not-too-distant future. Enthusiast website GM Authority learned from anonymous sources familiar with Chevrolet's product plans that the Silverado will soon receive its own version of the MultiPro tailgate. It will be called either MultiFlex or Multi-Flex, a name Chevrolet has already trademarked, and it was initially scheduled to make its debut for the 2021 model year. Its arrival might be delayed until the 2022 model year due to the coronavirus pandemic, however. Chevrolet's Silverado and GMC's Sierra are nearly identical under the sheet metal, so adding the latter's six-way tailgate to the former will be a relatively straightforward and cost-effective process. Interestingly, GM Authority wrote engineers could add a seventh function to the tailgate, though it didn't reveal what they have in store. It's also not sure whether both trucks will get the new feature, or if it will exclusively be offered on the Chevrolet. 2022 will bring major updates to the Silverado and the Sierra, potentially including — as we've previously reported — an independent rear suspension. Interior upgrades will allegedly be part of the mid-cycle changes, too, but we still don't know if the Silverado will receive the tough carbon fiber cargo box available in the Sierra. In the meantime, motorists in the market for a Sierra will temporarily have fewer options to choose from. GMC has asked its dealers to stop taking orders for the regular- and double-cab variants of the truck, according to a separate report from GM Authority. Putting the slower-selling regular- and double-cab trucks on hiatus will allow dealers to build up their inventory of crew-cabs, which sell far better and are in relatively short supply. These restrictions will remain in effect until the 2021 model year, which starts on September 14 for double- and crew-cab models and on September 21 for regular-cab trucks. All three body styles will be available in 2021. Related Video: