The sinkhole which swallowed eight cars at Kentucky’s National Corvette Museum has actually been a help rather than a hindrance, with the museum marking a record-breaking year for 2014.

The museum reported attendance of 251,258 visitors for the year with the prior record of 200,900 having been held since the museum’s fifth anniversary in 1999.

Representatives of the museum attributed the increase to not only the sinkhole, but also to the grand opening of the NCM Motorsports Park ad celebration of the museum’s 20th anniversary.

The sinkhole proved popular among visitors, with attendance at the museum since its appearance in February up nearly 50 per cent over six months compared with the same time period in 2013.