Workers extract the final Corvette from the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky: a 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06.

The final Corvette has been recovered from the sinkhole that swallowed it and seven others from the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. The initial burst of optimism that accompanied the first recoveries has been tempered by the fact that each subsequent ‘Vette retrieved has been in worse shape than its predecessor.

The last of the eight, the 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette, was buried in dirt and rocks, dozens of feet below the surface of the museum. It was the most heavily damaged of the eight.

“I expected bad, but it’s 100 times worse,” Kevin Helmintoller, who donated the car to the museum, said. “It looks like a piece of tin foil… and it had a roll cage in it! It makes all the other cars look like they’re brand new.”

The last of eight Corvettes received from a sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum. All of the cars will be in display, as-is, through August.

Katie Frassinelli, a museum spokeswoman, confirmed that the damage was progressively worse as each car was pulled out. The ones deemed fixable will eventually be shipped to Michigan for repair.

Teams have been working since the sinkhole opened up beneath the museum’s Skydome on Feb. 12 to recover the vehicles. The first Corvettes were fairly easy to find and pull out.

However, the last few cars required special equipment, including metal detectors to find. In fact, the seventh of the eight, the 1.5 Millionth Corvette, was found by accident.

“We had no idea where it was, we just happened upon it,” Mike Murphy, CEO of Scott, Murphy and Daniel Construction said.

However, the “sinkhole Corvettes” will first be part of a special display in the Museum’s Exhibit Hall through Aug. 3, after which time they will be moved into the restored Skydome where they will remain on display, as-is, through the Museum’s 20^th Anniversary Event Aug. 27-30.

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After that, they will travel to Warren, Mich., where General Motors Design will take charge of the project. Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design, will oversee the restoration.

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“The vehicles at the National Corvette Museum are some of the most significant in automotive history,” Mark Reuss, executive vice president of General Motors Global Product Development, said shortly after the event happened.

(To see more about GM’s restoration of the “sinkhole” Corvettes, Click Here.)

“There can only be one 1-millionth Corvette ever built. We want to ensure as many of the damaged cars are restored as possible so fans from around the world can enjoy them when the Museum reopens.”

In addition to the 1-millionth Corvette, GM had loaned the museum two of the vehicles – a 1993 ZR-1 Spyder and a 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” – that fell into the hole.