Three of the eight historic Corvettes that plunged into a sinkhole that developed at the National Corvette Museum last February will be restored by the museum with help from General Motors, the maker of Corvette.

“Our goal was to help the National Corvette Museum recover from a terrible natural disaster by restoring all eight cars,” said Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development. “However, as the cars were recovered, it became clear that restoration would be impractical because so little was left to repair. And, frankly, there is some historical value in leaving those cars to be viewed as they are.”

Initially, the museum decided to leave the sinkhole undisturbed, as the press the disaster garnered actually brought in a bevy of tourists. However, the costs and aesthetics associated with having a large sinkhole in the middle of a museum soon became too much to bear.

Museum officials have since decided to fill in the hole, yet not buff out all the blemishes left from the incident:

“There has been an outpouring of messages from enthusiasts the world over, asking us not to restore all of the cars,” said Wendell Strode, executive director for the National Corvette Museum. “For Corvette enthusiasts, the damage to the cars is part of their history, and part narrative of the National Corvette Museum. Restoring them all would negate the significance of what happened.”

The Corvettes never stood a chance against the sinkhole, and still cannot be protected: the natural environment of Bowling Green, Kentucky conspires against the iconic American automobiles.

The underlying geology of Kentucky is karst, meaning the landscape is prolific with sinkholes, caves, and springs. Karst topography occurs where a soft, easily dissoluble layer of rock, such as limestome or gypsum, overlays a region with a high water table. The constant interaction between the bedrock and the aquifers results in quick erosion rates, which hollow out cave systems, create sinkholes and form springs.

Kentucky is renowned for its karst landscape- the world’s largest surveyed cave system, Mammoth Cave, has over 350 miles of underground passages. However, the limestone bedrock is susceptible to creating sinkholes after heavy rains, and can even devour entire neighborhoods.