Building
Heel & Toe
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 17
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From: NOTRE DAME Indiana
Bowling Green, Ky.-- The National Corvette Museum is like no other Museum on earth. The exterior is recognized by its space-age design, with sweeping lines that match the sport car it honors. Departing totally from the traditional rectangular museum concept, the Corvette showcase winds over an attractively landscaped 52-acre site. The most prominent exterior feature is a large, circular car salon encased by a bright yellow cone-shaped roof. Above it soars a red, 12-story spire, visible for many miles and a landmark of the Bowling Green area.
The interior of the 68,000-square-foot building uses curved walls, exciting geometric shapes and full-scale diorama sights and sounds to tell the past, present, and future story of the Corvette. More than 75 Corvettes of every era - some production and some one-of-a-kind concept vehicles - are displayed. The Museum also features informative films, educational exhibits, historical displays and unique shopping. Schedules for the future is a complete Corvette Library and Archives, which will provide an array of information to enthusiasts all over the world.
It is impossible to list everything the Museum has to offer. There is something to appeal to visitors of every age, from the Corvette enthusiast to the sport car neophyte to every man, woman and child who likes exciting cars.
In the entrance area, the visitor is greeted by one of our unique Corvettes displayed on a turntable inside a glass-walled room. There is even a Corvette that the visitor can “try on for size,” sitting in the driver's seat for a memorable snapshot. The front lobby gives way to the Corvette Store, a 3,000-square-foot retail outlet offering a wide variety of Corvette automotive items. Shoppers can choose from unique apparel, collectibles and souvenir items that can only be found here.
Next, it's on to the 200-seat Chevrolet Theater to comfortably enjoy a brief introductory film on the big screen, which sets the stage for your Museum visit. This enjoyable film blends the 50-year history of the legendary sports car with the mystique that sets it apart from all other automobiles.
Visitors will enjoy the first exhibits in the nostalgia area, a series of realistic scenes mirroring the Corvette's early history. Stroll down Main Street and visit our mid-20th century barbershop and the old service station, complete with authentic gas pumps, air tower and garage. Vintage Corvettes line the street, along with original advertisements and other memorable pieces of the car's earliest years.
Continuing, the Route 66 tribute features a classic Corvette convertible and other stunning Corvettes that not only catch the eye, but also underscore the era's romance with the open highway. Life-like figures of George Maharis and Martin Milner remind visitors of the “Route 66” television show, which ran from 1960 to 1964 and featured a similar 'Vette.
Next is a realistic Chevrolet dealer showroom from the 1960s, featuring Corvettes from that generation, which began in 1963 with the famed ”split-window” coupe. Another diorama recreates portions of the old Corvette assembly line in St. Louis, where the Corvette was produced from late 1953 until 1981, when production moved to Bowling Green, KY. In photo images, actual UAW members tell anecdotes about life on the assembly line.
The visitors then enter an 80-foot diameter performance area, surrounded by a giant panoramic mural of famous Corvette racing scenes. This section is exclusively devoted to Corvette performance, one of the car's best-known accomplishments. Colorful racers dating from the late 1950s to the ultra-high performance cars of today are arranged on a slanted “racetrack.” A recreated pit stop features an actual Corvette racecar surrounded by a pit crew of record setting drivers.
The visitor then advances to the design and development area, demonstrating how Corvettes are created at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, MI. The scenes show lifelike figures of actual designers sketching outrageous prototypes, as well as clay models and a new Corvette at the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, MI, as well as the result. Aerodynamic and technology themes are incorporated into this unique area of the museum and cutaways of the 6th Generation Corvette are a main focus.
The largest display area is the famous Corvette sky dome, 140 feet in diameter and home to nearly 20 Corvettes. Cars in this area, as in every part of the Museum, are constantly changing. In addition to production cars on-loan from private owners, visitors may see several cars made famous by auto shows the world-over.
The 240-foot-long atrium leads visitors back to the front lobby. This area houses specially themed exhibits that change every few months. There are also extensive collections of promotional models and other collectibles, ending in the Corvette gallery.
Throughout the Museum, figures from the Corvette's past and present help bring the exhibits to life. Learn about the men and women who are responsible for designing and engineering the car, to those who raced the cars and made them famous. More than 20 cast-in-life sculpted figures have been created for the National Corvette Museum by an artist in New York.
The interior of the 68,000-square-foot building uses curved walls, exciting geometric shapes and full-scale diorama sights and sounds to tell the past, present, and future story of the Corvette. More than 75 Corvettes of every era - some production and some one-of-a-kind concept vehicles - are displayed. The Museum also features informative films, educational exhibits, historical displays and unique shopping. Schedules for the future is a complete Corvette Library and Archives, which will provide an array of information to enthusiasts all over the world.
It is impossible to list everything the Museum has to offer. There is something to appeal to visitors of every age, from the Corvette enthusiast to the sport car neophyte to every man, woman and child who likes exciting cars.
In the entrance area, the visitor is greeted by one of our unique Corvettes displayed on a turntable inside a glass-walled room. There is even a Corvette that the visitor can “try on for size,” sitting in the driver's seat for a memorable snapshot. The front lobby gives way to the Corvette Store, a 3,000-square-foot retail outlet offering a wide variety of Corvette automotive items. Shoppers can choose from unique apparel, collectibles and souvenir items that can only be found here.
Next, it's on to the 200-seat Chevrolet Theater to comfortably enjoy a brief introductory film on the big screen, which sets the stage for your Museum visit. This enjoyable film blends the 50-year history of the legendary sports car with the mystique that sets it apart from all other automobiles.
Visitors will enjoy the first exhibits in the nostalgia area, a series of realistic scenes mirroring the Corvette's early history. Stroll down Main Street and visit our mid-20th century barbershop and the old service station, complete with authentic gas pumps, air tower and garage. Vintage Corvettes line the street, along with original advertisements and other memorable pieces of the car's earliest years.
Continuing, the Route 66 tribute features a classic Corvette convertible and other stunning Corvettes that not only catch the eye, but also underscore the era's romance with the open highway. Life-like figures of George Maharis and Martin Milner remind visitors of the “Route 66” television show, which ran from 1960 to 1964 and featured a similar 'Vette.
Next is a realistic Chevrolet dealer showroom from the 1960s, featuring Corvettes from that generation, which began in 1963 with the famed ”split-window” coupe. Another diorama recreates portions of the old Corvette assembly line in St. Louis, where the Corvette was produced from late 1953 until 1981, when production moved to Bowling Green, KY. In photo images, actual UAW members tell anecdotes about life on the assembly line.
The visitors then enter an 80-foot diameter performance area, surrounded by a giant panoramic mural of famous Corvette racing scenes. This section is exclusively devoted to Corvette performance, one of the car's best-known accomplishments. Colorful racers dating from the late 1950s to the ultra-high performance cars of today are arranged on a slanted “racetrack.” A recreated pit stop features an actual Corvette racecar surrounded by a pit crew of record setting drivers.
The visitor then advances to the design and development area, demonstrating how Corvettes are created at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, MI. The scenes show lifelike figures of actual designers sketching outrageous prototypes, as well as clay models and a new Corvette at the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, MI, as well as the result. Aerodynamic and technology themes are incorporated into this unique area of the museum and cutaways of the 6th Generation Corvette are a main focus.
The largest display area is the famous Corvette sky dome, 140 feet in diameter and home to nearly 20 Corvettes. Cars in this area, as in every part of the Museum, are constantly changing. In addition to production cars on-loan from private owners, visitors may see several cars made famous by auto shows the world-over.
The 240-foot-long atrium leads visitors back to the front lobby. This area houses specially themed exhibits that change every few months. There are also extensive collections of promotional models and other collectibles, ending in the Corvette gallery.
Throughout the Museum, figures from the Corvette's past and present help bring the exhibits to life. Learn about the men and women who are responsible for designing and engineering the car, to those who raced the cars and made them famous. More than 20 cast-in-life sculpted figures have been created for the National Corvette Museum by an artist in New York.
