Breaking News! Sinkhole opens inside of the National Corvette Museum

Some very sad breaking news out of Bowling Green, Kentucky. A sinkhole has opened up underneath the Skydome of the National Corvette Museum. Currently, 8 cars in the museum have been affected. And it's heart breaking because it affects several of the most significant Corvettes built. It sounds like a very bad April Fools joke started by some Corvette haters, but it's very real and very scary. We have even included a picture broadcasted out to Twitter. This is a very sad day for the automotive world. Below is the media release from the museum.

We received a call at 5:44am from our security company alerting us of our motion detectors going off in our Skydome area of the Museum.  Upon arrival it was discovered that a sinkhole had collapsed within the Museum.  No one was in or around the Museum at the time.  The Bowling Green Fire Department arrived on the scene and secured the area.  The Fire Department has estimated the size of the hole is 40 feet across and 25-30 feet deep.

It is with heavy hearts that we report that eight Corvettes were affected by this incident.  Those cars include:

    1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
    2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors

The other six vehicles were owned by the National Corvette Museum including:

    1962 Black Corvette
    1984 PPG Pace Car
    1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
    1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
    2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
    2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

None of the cars affected were on loan from individuals.  The Skydome exhibit area of the Museum is a separate structure connected to the main Museum.  A structural engineer is now on-site to assess the existing damage and stability of the surrounding areas.  The Museum is closed to the public for the day to allow us to carefully assess the situation.  We will keep everyone informed as we know more.


Source: National Corvette Museum.

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Parking on the Wrong Side of the Gas Pump

It's okay to admit you've parked on the wrong side of the gas pump, especially if you're driving a rental car, or you just bought a new vehicle and the gas cap is located on the opposite side as the car before yours. There's no industry standard for where gas caps are located, although there are some loose regional practices for placement.


At one time I had a European car and a Japanese car, with the gas caps on opposite sides. I always had to consciously think about which vehicle I was driving and remember which side the gas cap was located on. A few times I remembered incorrectly and felt pretty stupid when I had to pull around to the right side.

As you can see from the video above, in Russia people feel no shame when they pull up to the wrong side of the fuel pump. Instead, they just pick up their car and just slide it over close enough to the pump the nozzle will reach the opposite side.

How does one man lift all that weight? Some people are saying the car was on ice and so pretty easily moved. Having had to help large SUVs stuck on ice makes me say that's not the answer. I can't quite tell what the little hatchback is (I'm rusty on my Russian cars, or cars sold in Russia) but it definitely looks old and lightweight. I once owned a Honda CRX I could have moved like that, so I'm guessing the car is just lightweight.

What do you think? Can you name the make and model of the car?

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Zero Fatalities Super Bowl Commercial Controversy

I have to admit I didn't watch the Super Bowl this year. Maybe it was because neither of "my" teams made it all the way (although Bronco fans probably wish theirs hadn't). Maybe it was because I don't have live TV anymore (I usually don't have time to watch it). Whatever the reason, I missed out on some interesting commercials.


Thankfully we have YouTube to bring non-Super Bowl watchers like me up to speed. I ran across the commercial (at the top of this post) from the Utah Department of Transportation's (UDOT) Zero Fatalities campaign. The government agency has the lofty goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities in the state. Unfortunately, this year has already been marred with many horrific fatal crashes.

What's really interesting is that the commercial has generated some controversy. Apparently certain people thought the safety message was out of place during their drunken Super Bowl festivities. I would argue that such an ad is never, ever out of place. We're talking about children's lives, people. It's especially pertinent if you're at your buddy's house and have had one too many beers and might even be contemplating driving those few miles home, even though you're buzzed. Perhaps that's why people were upset, because a guilty conscience can really kill the fun.

Or perhaps they were upset because they always, always strap their kids in but never themselves. Guess what: you, your gym shoes or anything else unsecured in your car becomes a wonderful missile in a violet wreck. Go learn Newton's Three Laws of Motion if you want to know more about why.

So think about it. Anyone who really, truly cares about their kid will appreciate the heads-up, because finding out the sad truth after the fact doesn't do anyone any good.

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Volvo's XC Coupe Picks up Some Design Awards

2014 Volvo XC Coupe Concept. All images courtesy Volvo.

Last year, Swedish automaker Volvo treated everyone to a beautifully-designed concept car that was simply called the Volvo Concept Coupe. The company revealed some teaser images anonymously online, without any of the Volvo badges showing, causing a huge stir as people guessed it was a concept from one of the highly revered brands in the industry. Of course everyone was shocked when they found out the breathtakingly beautiful car was a product of Volvo, a company known for its boxy and quite frankly ugly designs.

Volvo is back again with a show-stopper, the XC Coupe Concept, which is a two-door SUV. Both concept vehicles are members of a three-part act Volvo is putting on display to show what the future of the company's design will be. If the concepts are any indication of what new Volvos will look like, be prepared to rethink your preconceptions about the brand.

Not surprisingly, the Volvo XC Coupe Concept picked up a couple of design awards as part of the EyeON Design Awards, which are attached to North American International Auto Show. The awards were for "Best Concept Car" and "Best Use of Color, Graphics and Materials."

Even more exciting, the 2015 Volvo XC90 is supposed to borrow heavily from the design of the XC Coupe. Interestingly enough, now that Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover have been able to recover from Ford ownership, all three brands have started releasing some incredibly compelling vehicles. Is it a coincidence?

I doubt it.

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Buy GM and Subaru Parts Online from Randy Marion

You can now buy GM and Subaru Parts from the comfort of your home or office from Randy Marion in Mooresville, NC. Go to www.randymarionparts.com for the parts you need at unbeatable prices.

Our Parts Department is staffed with knowledgeable and courteous employees, among them there is a combined 70 plus years of parts experience and over a million dollars of inventory available ready to ship today!

If you have a question, use the chat feature to talk to one of our Randy Marion Associates on site at our Dealership in Mooresville. Shop today!

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Paul Walker's Death was About Unsafe Speed

I've been genuinely waiting to pass any sort of judgement about the crash that claimed Paul Walker and his associate, a trained race car driver. With the recent report that the Porsche Carrera GT they were in was traveling over 100 mph before crashing, I think it's safe to say that unsafe speed was definitely a factor in the accident.


From the details, the very few details, that have been released nobody can say for sure why the car was traveling so fast. Of course this hasn't stopped the armchair admirals of the Internet from declaring that the whole incident was a street race scenario gone wrong. For all we know, the driver suffered a medical episode that caused him to push on the accelerator and rendered him unable to steer. of course it is possible the driver was racing someone else, although there are few road cars that can stand up to the sheer might of the supercar.

At 100 mph plus, there are few cars that will hold up with a frontal impact with a street pole. Don't believe me? Watch the small offset frontal crash tests done by IIHS. The test simulates such a crash at 40 mph, and has become notoriously difficult for automakers to engineer vehicles that can pass the test with flying colors. That's less than half the speed the Carrera GT was traveling, which explains why the car was torn apart, entrapping the men and starting a fire.

I'm sure as the forensic details of the crash come out, we will find out more about exactly why the car was traveling so fast. Anyone who has driven a high-powered, rear-wheel drive car knows that they can be hard to control. The Porsche Carrera GT can be accurately described as "unhinged" like the Viper. It's a car that commands your full attention and respect, otherwise it will kill you.

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