How did Zora Arkus Duntov’s tube-frame 1963 Grand Sport stack up against a 1989 tube-frame Trans-Am Corvette?
Dateline 2.16.21, Story by Paul Van Valkenburgh, Photos by Mark Harmer – To download the free PDF E-book, CLICK HERE – Of all of the five original 1963 Grand Sport Corvettes, GS #002, known today as the “Wintersteen Grand Sport” is the only Grand Sport to have big-block, 427 L88 power. Sports car racing was evolving so fast that by 1965/1966 the Grand Sport was obsolete, despite copious amounts of horsepower and torque. Like all of the Grand Sport Corvettes, after George Wintersteen was done racing the car, it was bought and sold many times.
Today, the car resides at The Simeone Museum, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Occasionally the car is brought out into Simeone’s two-acre courtyard for their monthly Saturday “Demonstration Days”. If you are in the Philly area, check Simeone’s schedule to see when you can see, hear, and smell a classic American beast race car.
Late in 1989 Corvette Quarterly (formerly “Corvette News”) arranged a special event. Grand Sport #002 was brought together at Sebring International Raceway for a side-by-side comparison test with the then “state-of-the-art” tube chassis Trans-Am C4 Corvette. Twenty-six-years separate the two cars, they are both tube-frame cars with replica bodies and powered by Chevrolet engines. But that’s where the similarity ends, and the difference is startling.
The Grand Sport’s lap time was 1.34.22 and the Trans-Am Corvette’s lap time was 1.22.45. Technologies across the board all added up to a much-improved race car. Enjoy the comparison. – Scott
Here are the PDF download links to all 3 of the Duntov Files…
Dateline: 2-28-19 – Images: GM Archives; Graphics & by K. Scott Teeters
Of the six men in our “Corvette’s Founding Fathers” series, Peter Brock had the shortest career at GM, but his contribution was enormous. Like all of the Founding Fathers, Brock had “gasoline in his veins” and was cut from the same cloth as Larry Shinoda; post-WW-II southern California, the birthplace of modern hot rodding.
Brock got the car bug at the age of 12 when he spotted a 1949 MG TC with a broken engine in back of the garage where he had his first after-school job. Brock studied the lines and mechanicals of the MG TD and at 15 bought the car. With help from his car pals, he got the car running. Brock’s second car was a 1946 Ford that he made into a fast, award-winning hot rod. Whereas Shinoda’s “Chopsticks Special” hot rods were scrappy-looking drag racers, Brock’s Hot Rod Ford was a sleek beauty that was quick at the drags and had class-wins at the Oakland Roadster Show in 1954 and 1956
.While pit crewing for some older car pals that were racing, Brock decided that he wanted to race, but Brock observed that racing was an expensive enterprise. He determined that he’d better first learn a trade. And since automotive design was his second passion, he’d have to go to Art Center College of Design.
Brock’s approach to getting into the school was stunning; he walked in and told the receptionist that he wanted to attend. The lady asked about his portfolio and Brock had to admit he didn’t know what a portfolio was. After she explained, Brock went to his car, created a series of drawings on blue-lined school paper, came back in after a few hours and said, “Here’s my portfolio.” He made his case that after a month, if his work wasn’t approved, he’d leave.
Brock didn’t see much value in life drawing, light and shadow, and graphics classes. But the “Transportation 101” class was exactly what he was looking for. With great teachers, classmates, and his enthusiasm, Brock was ready for his next big break. His only problem was that he ran out of money! GM Designer Chuck Jordan was then working as a headhunter scouting new talent. When Brock explained his situation to Jordan, he received a round-trip ticket to Detroit for an interview with GM, and later a job offer. Brock later said, “GM was like going to the best grad school. The best education a car designer could hope for.” At 19 Brock was the youngest designer ever hired at GM.
Brock couldn’t have been happier and would often work after hours. One evening Design Director Harley Earl entered the design studio and struck up a conversation with Brock. Earl asked Brock what he thought of GM’s design direction. Surprisingly, Brock told Earl that GM needed to look into the small car market because the Europeans was making inroads and GM needed a small “student’s car” for young people that couldn’t afford a new bigger car. Earl was intrigued. After several more evening conversations with Brock, Earl informed Brock that he was starting the XP-79 Cadet project and that Brock was to lead the design effort, under the direction of a studio boss! What an astonishing opportunity!
Brock went through the entire design process, from sketches, and line drawings, to a full-size mockup that looked like a small European GT. Earl loved the concept and expanded it to include a delivery vehicle. But when Earl showed the $1,000 Cadet concept at Styling’s 1958 line review meeting, there was dead silence. GM president Harlow Curtice said, “We don’t build small cars at GM!” The project was dead, but it did plant a seed that soon became the Corvair.
Harley Earl was about to retire, and his Olds Golden Rocket-like C2 Corvette concept was going nowhere. Around the same time the 1957 AMA Racing Ban killed all racing activity. But 46-year-old Bill Mitchell was about to take over as VP of Design upon Earl’s retirement, and had his own ideas of what the next Corvette should look like. The main Chevrolet design studio was where official GM advanced production designs were created, but Mitchell also set up a special Studio X where he could do his own private design work. After returning from the 1957 Turin Auto Show, Mitchell gave his Studio X team photos of cars that most impressed him; the streamliner record cars from Abarth and Stanguellini, and the Alfa Romeo “Disco Volante” coupe. He liked the bulging fenders and sharp horizontal crease line, and instructed his team to sketch some ideas based on the photos.
A few days later, Mitchell came back to review his team’s progress. He carefully looked at all the drawings and stopped at one and said, “Whose work is this?” Brock raised his hand and Mitchell said, “Nice! I’d like everyone to take a closer look here because this approach to the theme has some real possibilities. Your goal is to expand on this. Let’s see how we can approve.” Studio head Bob Veryzer might have been peeved because he put Brock’s drawing away! But during the next review, Mitchell asked, “Where’s that sketch I approved?” Veryzer put the Brock sketch back up and Mitchell said, “Yes, that’s the one! This is what I want!” That’s how Brock got in the lead design team.
Brock refined his design and explored removable roof panels, unique door hinges, and a roll bar built into the B-pillar. Several weeks into the project, Mitchell asked Brock if he knew anything about Earl and Duntov’s 1957 SS Racer. Brock explained that he and several of his designer friends drove around the clock to Sebring to see the car race. Mitchell was impressed and then explained that he had acquired the SS mule chassis and intended to use it as a successor to Earl’s car, and work on it as an “advanced concept”. Thus the XP-87 was born.
Based on Brock’s refined sketches, a work-order was released for a 1/5th scale model to be built. Because of UAW regulations, all of the clay work would have to be done only by the modelers and Brock couldn’t even touch the model. What Brock learned was that the modelers were outstanding, fast professionals, and totally open to his sugestions; they were there to serve the designers. Once again, Brock was learning from the best.
Around the same time, Ed Colewas pushing his Q-Chevrolet line concept that would have all 1960 Chevrolet cars, including the Corvette, use a transaxle for better weight distribution, and to eliminate the interior transmission hump. Duntov’s engineering layout included an all-aluminum fuel injected engine, a four-speed transaxle, four-wheel independent suspension, a platform chassis, and inboard brakes. A full-size space buck was built and Brock and the team translated the 1/5th scale mode into a full-size clay model. Brock commented that with the space buck, everything fell into place. Unfortunately, the entire Q-Chevrolet concept collapsed due to cost and was diluted down to a less expensive car more suitable for production.
Peter Brock explains the Stingray Racer.
But Mitchell still was hooked on Brock’s design. The XP-87 project morphed into Mitchell’s Stingray Racer and then into the 1963 Corvette project, both driven by the capable skills of co-designers Larry Shinoda, Chuck Pohlmann, Tony Lapine, and Gene Garfinkle. Because of the AMA Racing Ban, Brock saw no opportunity to be involved with anything connected to racing, so he left GM on good terms, and went back to California to begin his racing career.
Post GM Brock raced an ex-Le Mans team Cooper and later upgraded to a Lotus II Series 2, coming in runner-up two seasons in a row to veteran racer Frank Monise. Through providence, Brock was Carroll Shelby’s first employee and set up the Carroll Shelby School of High Performance Driving, ran Shelby’s Goodyear Racing Tire operation, helped develop the very first Shelby Cobra. Brock also created the Cobra Daytona Coupe to take on the Ferrari, won an FIA GT World Championship, and World Speed Records at Bonneville.
In 1965 Brock started Brock Racing Enterprises and raced Hinos, Datsuns, and even a NASCAR Mercury until 1972. After Brock decided to end his racing career, he got into hang gliding. In recent years Brock has worked as an automotive photo journalist and authored a book about the Daytona Cobra Coupes, and “Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon. In 2017 Brock was initiated into the National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2017. Brock Brock’s single sketch was the beginning of the Sting Ray. – Scott
Here are the links to the previous five parts of the “Corvette’s Founding Fathers” series…
Larry Shinoda: Genius Designer/Stylist and Self-Confessed Malcontent
Larry Shinoda was the perfect designer/stylist for GM VP of Styling Bill Mitchell. In the same way that Mitchell fit with Harley Earl, Shinoda clearly understood what Mitchell wanted. As VP of Design, Mitchell’s job was to hold the vision for what he knew would be new and fresh, then lead his designers and stylists to bring his vision into reality. Corvettes were always Mitchell’s pet projects and he was famous for saying, “Don’t get cocky, kid! I design Corvettes around here!” Mitchell’s Corvettes were about design, speed, power, and performance. And for that, he needed a designer/stylist equal to Duntov’s engineering/racing prowess. Larry Shinoda was his man.
Shinoda was a self-confessed malcontent, and proud of it. As a kid, Larry was always drawing cars with pencil stubs he found. At the age of eight, he did a large color painting that years later hung in the Los Angeles Museum of Art. Just after his father died when he was 12-years-old, Larry and his family were swept up and sent to a Japanese internment camp. No doubt that this helped form his surly persona. While in the camp, Larry designed and built a reclining chair for his grandmother from wooden crates. After two years of internment, Larry and his family relocated to Grand Junction, Colorado to help with the family nursery business. But rural life wasn’t for Larry and he quickly relocated back to Los Angeles to finish school.
Late 1940s California was the birthplace of the hot rod car culture and Larry was all-in! He built hot rod Ford coupes and roadsters called “Chopsticks Special” that he street raced, drag raced, and speed raced on the dry lakebeds of California’s Mojave Desert. When he wasn’t racing, Shinoda worked at the Weiland Company to put himself through two years at Pasadena City College. After college Larry had a two year stint with the Air National Guard and spent 16-months in Korea.
Shinoda knew that if he was ever to be a designer, he’d have to go to the Art Center of Design in LA. What seemed like a great idea quickly went sour, and Larry was kicked out! Shinoda only wanted to design cars, and saw no value in watercolor and life drawing classes. One of Larry’s former instructors called him when a rep for Ford was interviewing for designer positions.
Shinoda put together his portfolio and showed up for the interview in his attitudinal car-guy gear; peg-let jeans, and a loud Hawaiian shirt over a Howard Cams t-shirt. The Ford rep was so impressed with his work that Larry was offered a higher-than-normal salary, plus Ford paid to transport his hot rod to Michigan! But before going to Ford, in 1953 Shinoda set the SGTA Bonneville Nations D-Class Speed Record with a two-way average speed of 166-mph in his Chrysler-powered roadster. Then in 1954 Larry won the Fuel Roadster class at the first NHRA Nationals in Great bend, Kansas. Yes, gasoline was in his veins.
Shinoda spent a year with Ford learning the ropes of a big corporation and picking up a lot from fellow designers. Not contented with Ford, Shinoda jumped over to Packard where he befriended John Z. DeLorean. Earlier that same year, Larry was part of the John Zink crew that raced and won the 1956 Indy 500. Naturally, Shinoda designed the body and the car’s paint scheme. Shinoda and DeLorean quickly realized that Packard was a sinking and jumped to GM.
Hired as a senior designer by Harley Earl in late 1956, life inside GM was uninspiring. After his short orientation, Shinoda was transferred to the Chevrolet group where his unique flat rear fin design was incorporated into the 1959 Bel Air. Larry even showed how to manufacture the unique shape by welding the upper and lower parts of the shape and covering the weld with chrome trim. Larry then had a brief stint in the Pontiac design group and worked on the Wide Track Pontiacs and the 1960-1961 Tempests. To counter the doldrums in the Buick and Cadillac groups, Larry rendered the big cars with racing numbers, stripes, and mags. His bosses were not amused!
Sometimes providence has to bring the right people together. One day on the way home from work, Shinoda pulled up to a stoplight next to a supercharged 1958 Pontiac with VP of GM Design, Bill Mitchell behind the wheel. Larry let Bill get ahead of him, then totally smoked the VP! A few days later when Mitchell was in the Chevrolet studio, he asked who owned a white 1956 Ford. The studio boss said, “Hey Larry, don’t you have a white ’56 Ford?” Shinoda confirmed that indeed, he was the guy that dusted off Mitchell. Bill asked Larry to bring his car into the garage so he could check out the designer’s machine. When Mitchell looked under the hood, he nearly had a heart attack! The engine was a Bill Stropp race-prepared 352 with dual quads, headers, NASCAR shocks and a full roll cage. It was essentially a racecar! That was IT! Mitchell had found his go-to design/styling man.
Mitchell’s Studio X was the perfect place for Shinoda and it was there that he did all of the Corvette work he’s loved and admired for. Larry’s first project for Mitchell was to take Peter Brock’s 1957 Q-Corvette design and translate it to fit the mule chassis of the 1957 Corvette SS Racer. The result was the 1959 Stingray Racer. Mitchell erroneously thought the shape would act like an inverted airfoil and push the car down. The front-end lift was terrible and was unfortunately inherited by the C2 Sting Ray. Before the C2 Sting Ray project, since Shinoda had already designed the body of a winning Indy 500 car, he was tasked to create the body for Duntov’s Indy car-like CERV-I R&D vehicle.
Not only did Mitchell’s Stingray Racer win a championship, it was such a hit with the crowds, the design had to be the next Corvette, and Larry Shinoda was the man for the job. Translating a sketch into a racecar body is one thing; making the shape into a real automobile is a whole other thing. The only carryover parts were the engine and transmission, everything else had to be designed and styled. Although the Sting Ray was Mitchell’s vision, Shinoda and his team worked out the visual details.
Shinoda was the perfect man for the time. Design studios all over Detroit were white-hot with secret advanced design projects and a steady flow of concept cars. The following cars all have “Larry Shinoda” baked into their DNA, and they all still look good today; 1959 Stingray Racer, 1960 CERV-I, 1962 Corvair Super Spyder, 1962 Monza GT, 1962 Monza SS, 1962 Mako Shark-I, 1963-1967 Sting Ray, 1964 GS-2b, 1964 CERV-II, 1964 Rear-Engine XP-819, 1965-Mako Shark-II, 1966 Mako Shark-II, 1965-1966 and 2D, 1967 Astro-I, and the 1968-Astro-II.
Larry Shinoda was well rewarded for his contributions. Just before the Mako Shark-II project, Larry was promoted to Chief Designer for Special Vehicles, where he coordinated efforts with Frank Winchell’s Chevy R&D group and Vince Piggins Performance Group. But by 1968, the self-confessed malcontent left GM to work with his friend Semon “Bunkie” Kundsen, the new president of FoMoCo. Larry’s new position at Ford was Executive of All High-Performance and Show Vehicles. Shinoda was responsible for the Boss 302 and 429, the Torino Talladega, Cougar Eliminator, the King Cobra, the Torino Design Study, Cyclone Spoiler II, and the Mustang and Torino pace cars. But life inside Ford was more turbulent than GM, and after 16 months, Knudsen and Shinoda were fired. The Shinoda/Knudsen team then formed RV company RecTrans, which was soon bought by White Motor Company, with Knudsen as president.
The last chapter of Shinoda’s career began in 1976 when he created Shinoda Design Associates, Inc, with a staff of designers, clay modelers, technicians, engineers, and fabricators. Shinoda’s team worked to help client’s profitability with excellent design that would be appealing to their client’s; trucks, boats, motorcycles, golf equipments, products. Larry’s last Corvette project was the Shinoda/Mears Corvette body kit.
Larry’s older sister Grace had this to say about her famous brother, “Creative people take risks. They see things in new ways that the establishment doesn’t agree with.” She certainly knew her brother very well.
Larry passed on November 13, 1997, but on January 6, 1997 he completed and signed a color rendering of a C5 Corvette Split-Window Coupe with C2-style front and rear fender humps and rear bumper cover. Clearly, Larry wanted to see more “Sting Ray” in the then-new C5. Unfortunately, Larry health issues got in the way and the project never went past the illustration. The following year, Larry was inducted into the National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame. And in 1995 Larry was inducted into the Mustang Club of America’s “Mustang Hall of Fame”. Larry Shinoda was outspoken (often to his own determent), candid, humorous, and firmly believed in whatever he was doing. – Scott
Zora Arkus-Duntov: The Performance Godfather of all Corvettes
Dateline: 10.23.18 – One of the definitions of the word, “godfather” is; “one that founds, supports, or inspires”. Of all of the Corvette’s “Founding Fathers” none are more deserving of the term than Zora Arkus-Duntov. It is not an exaggeration to say that were it not for Duntov, the Corvette never would have made it past 1970!
Although the Corvette fit the definition of a “sports car”, when Chevrolet released the car in 1953, they said that the car was, “not a sports car”. But when Zora saw the Corvette at the 1953 GM Motorama in New York City, he said that it was the most beautiful car he had ever seen, and knew instantly that he wanted to be a part of the new Corvette team.
Zora was born on December 25, 1909 and his birth name was “Zachary Arkus”. Both of his parents were Russian Jews living in Belgium. His mother was a medical student and his father was a mining engineer. After the Russian Revolution the family moved back to Leningrad, Russia, but his parents divorced. His mother’s new partner was Josef Duntov. Years later, Zora and his brother, Yura added the surname, “Duntov” to theirs.
Josef Duntov was an engineer for the Soviet government and was transferred to Berlin, Germany. Zora loved Berlin. When he wasn’t attending classes at the Charlottenburg Technological University, he was drawing cars, writing papers, riding motorcycles, roaring around in his Type 30 Bugatti, and chasing girls. When Zora met Elfi Wolff, a beautiful German dancer with the Folies Bergere, it was love at first sight, and the couple married in France in 1939. When WW-II broke out in 1939, Zora and Yura wanted nothing to do with fascism, and joined the French Air Force. But when France surrendered, the entire Duntov family made plans to get out of France and immigrate to America.
All Zora ever wanted to do was build and race cars. After the family settled down in New York, Zora and Yura started the Ardun Mechanical Corporation, a machining company. Quickly, the company became a success, receiving an “A” classification with the Army Air Force Quality Control. Government work for the war effort made Zora and Elfi wealthy. After the war Zora and Yura made their contribution to the burgeoning hot rod industry that set the stage for Duntov’s part of the Corvette story.
Image: http://www.ardun.com/
Ford brought the V8 to the masses and it wasn’t long before guys started hot rodding the Flat-head V8 Ford. The design was cheap and simple, but didn’t breathe very well. Zora designed an aluminum, overhead valve hemi-head bold-on kit for the popular Ford flathead engine. The Ardun OHV Hemi heads took output from 100-hp to 160-hp; a 62-percent increase! They offered a conversion kit, a complete engine, and an all-out, 200-hp racing engine. While terrific as a concept, Zora wasn’t a “development engineer” and didn’t have the patience to sort out details. Through a series of business mistakes, the company eventually folded. Also, in 1946 and 1947 Zora had two failed qualifying attempts at Indy.
Photo: K. Scott Teeters – Duntov wanted to take a team of Corvette SS race cars to the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans race, but the AMA Racing Ban stopped Zora’s Le Mans assault.
By 1948 Zora was looking for a racecar company to work for and took a job working for Allard England. Without a company to run, Duntov was able to stay focused on engineering and development work for Sydney Allard’s sports racing cars. In 1949 Zora raced an Ardun-powered Allard J2 at Watkins Glen, but had braking problems. Then in 1952 Zora drive a new Allard J2X at Le Mans, but broke an axle at the 14-hour mark.
Working for Allard was fun, but Zora knew there was no future there. In 1952 he came back to New York and started looking for employment with an American car company. Duntov applied with Chrysler, Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Ford, and General Motors. Chrysler suggested that his racing engineering skills would be more suited to much smaller companies. He even tried Jaguar, but was rejected. A letter to GM’s Chief Engineer, Ed Cole in October was responded with an invitation to, “…stop by if you’re ever in Detroit.” But Cole passed Duntov’s letter to his head suspension/chassis engineer, Maurice Olley, who responded to Zora on January 5, 1953 with an invitation for an interview.
Around this time Duntov had his “Oh, WOW!” moment upon seeing the Corvette at the 1953 Motorama. After a long series of letters and interviews, on May 1, 1953, Zora Arkus-Duntov was hired by GM to work in the Chevrolet Engineering Department under Maurice Olley, with a starting salary of $14,000.
Zora and Elfie Duntov didn’t fit into the GM corporate culture, and Olley and Duntov did not get along at all. Zora solved engineering problems with an intuitive sense of mechanics – Olley wanted to see calculations. GM executives socialized at country clubs and played golf – Zora went to races and played around with boats on his weekends. Elfie passed on invitations to social lunches, preferring to spend time with her entertainer friends. Yes, the Duntov’s were misfits in GM’s stuffy gray suit world.
Three weeks into his employment Zora was almost fired by Olley because he announced that he was taking off to drive for Porsche at Le Mans in June. Although Duntov worked for Olley, he reported to Ed Cole, who begrudgingly let him go racing, but without pay.
Fortunately for all of us, Duntov got beyond his issues with Olley and was transferred to the GM Proving Ground. The work was beneath him, but he needed a job and soldered on. It was a speech he gave at a Lancing SAE meeting about how high-performance programs can enhance efficiency and reliability of passenger cars, and that the Corvette would be the perfect platform for such R&D work. While other engineers were more thorough in their development work, Zora had the deep understanding of racing, and the enthusiasm that could make Chevrolet an authority on performance cars.
By the time Duntov got to work on the Corvette, his initial conclusion was, “… the car really stunk.” Zora was coming from a racing perspective and the Corvette was never intended to be a racer. He said, “Since we can not prevent people from racing Corvettes, maybe it is better to help them to do a good job at it.” Thus began the evolutionary transition of a car that was never designed to be a racer. Duntov was the perfect man for the job; truly, there was no one else in Detroit in 1954 that could have made Earl’s beauty queen sports car into a fearsome racer. The super-successful C5-R, C6.R, and C7.R Corvette Racing Team owes it all to Zora Arkus-Duntov – and a ton of work.
Duntov’s serious work began late in 1955, and by February 1956 at Daytona Beach, his trio modified 1956 Corvettes set speed records. From there it was a class win at Sebring and “Bring on the hay bales!” 1957 saw the introduction of the 283 Fuelie and the first of a long series of RPO “Racer Kit” Chevrolet-engineered parts for racing Corvettes. Zora wanted to take a team of Corvette SS Racers to Le Mans in 1957 but the AMA Racing Ban stopped him.
Take a test drive with Zora!
By the late 1950s, thanks to the parts Duntov and engineer Mauri Rose developed for the RPO program, privateer Corvette racers were winning championships. Then, closing out the C1 generation, the Grady Davis Gulf One Corvettes took the 1961 SCCA B/Production and the 1962 A/Production Championships. To jump-start the C2 Sting Ray, Duntov launched the now-legendary RPO Z06 racer kit and the Grand Sport Corvette. Again, Zora wanted to take a team Grand Sports to Le Mans, but GM’s strict AMA Racing Ban got in the way and only five Grand Sports were built.
Duntov was relentless in pushing performance and created numerous mid-engine Corvettes prototypes. “Brakes” had been troublesome for racing Corvettes since 1956. By 1965, all production Corvettes had 4-wheel disc brakes. When the big-block was introduced in 1965, Chevrolet realized that cubic-inches were the easiest way to more horsepower. By 1967 Duntov introduced the fearsome 427 L88. From 1967-to-1969 only 216 L88 Corvettes were built, and are super valuable today. In 1969 427 ZL-1 was an L88 with an aluminum block, offered L88 power, with small-block weight.
In 1970 Zora released the 350 LT1, best small-block Corvette to that date. From 1970-to-1972 RPO ZR1 was the Racer Kit for small-block racers. And lastly, Zora was responsible for the 1974, customer applied, “Greenwood” widebody kit, available from the Chevrolet Performance Parts catalog. When Duntov retied in December 1974 he had a mid-engine Corvette in the works, but management said, “We’re selling all the Corvettes we can, why to we need a mid-engine Corvette?” Sure, “business is business” but it would have been so cool.
Without Duntov supplying raw performance, even Bill Mitchell’s beautiful Sting Ray wouldn’t have saved the Corvette. The Corvette survived because of racing and Corvettes raced because of Duntov. Therefore, Zora Arkus-Duntov ultimately deserves to title as “Godfather of the Corvette”. – Scott
PS – You can readpervious installments of my “Corvette’s Founding Father Series from the bleelow links:
Dateline: 10.2.18 (All images GM Archives) The Corvette is arguably the greatest enigma in Detroit history. Every car line has to carry its own sales weight. In 1957 6,339 Corvettes were sold, the same year, Ford sold 21,380 Thunderbirds. Corvette sales didn’t surpass that figure until 1963 when 21,513 Corvettes sold. How did the Corvette survive? The Times and Angels.
It was the Wild West days whenWilliam Durant founded General Motors on September 16, 1908. By 1910 Durant lost control of General Motors to a bankers’ trust. In 1912 Durant started Chevrolet, secretly bought back controlling shares of General Motors, reorganized in 1916 as “General Motors Corporation”, only to lose control again in 1918.
Successful industrialist Alfred P. Sloan, became vice president of GM in 1918, then president 1923, and brought order and structure to the chaotic company. Sloan created autonomous operating divisions, centralized policies, planning, annual model changes, platform engineering, and emphasized “styling.” Sloan hired Harley Earl specifically to “style” GM cars. Eventually, GM owned 43-percent of all car sales! By 1955 GM sold over 5 million vehicles and was the first corporation to post $1 Billion dollars profit!
Ed Cole was born on September 17, 1909 and grew up on his family’s dairy farm. As a kid, Ed designed, built, and sold radio sets and when he was old enough, the natural mechanic started working at an auto parts supply store and building hot rods. For a time,Ed thought he wanted to be a lawyer, but that “car thing” got in the way.
In 1926 GM bought the Flint Institute of Technology and renamed it, “General Motors Institute”, focusing on creating industry and business leaders through a co-op program, teaching all aspects of automobile manufacturing. Cole enrolled in 1930 and was so bright that by 1933, without finishing his GMI education, he was hired by Cadillac’s engineering department. During WW-II Ed became the chief design engineer on GM’s light tanks and combat vehicles program. In 1946 Cole was promoted to chief engineer at Cadillac and was the lead engineer on the groundbreaking, 1949 Cadillac 331 OHV high-compression, high-revving engine. Ed Cole was the “go-to” guy in GM engineering, with great things ahead of him.
There was a tremendous economic boom after WW-II thanks to pent up consumer demands after the long depression and war, but by the early 1950s a slowdown was in the making. A month after the Corvette made its debut at the New York Motorama; Harlow H. Curtice became the President of GM and understood that to make money, you have to spend money. In February 1954 Curtice announced a $1 Billion dollar plant and facilities expansion plan. Ford announced their own $1 Billion dollar capital expenditure and Chrysler committed $500 Million for expansion. Curtice doubled down with another $1 Billion and third triage of $1 Billion in 1956! Time Magazine voted Curtice “Man of the Year” for 1956. Curtice said, “General Motors must always lead.” GM was the largest corporation in the world and Ed Cole’s star was rising.
With the success of the Cadillac 331 engine, Cole was in a prime position. In 1952 Chevrolet general manager Tom Keating promoted Ed to Chevrolet’s chief engineer. Cole’s major assignment was the replacement for the 23-year-old Chevy Stovebolt Six. A V8 project was in the works, but Cole hated it and started from scratch, instructing his team that the engine should be compact, lightweight, and powerful. By the fall of 1954, the new 265 V8 was ready for 1955 Chevrolet cars, including the Corvette. No one dreamed the basic design would still be produced over 60 years later. The next step in Cole’s career was Chevrolet general manager in 1956.
In 1952/1953 a 43-year-old Russian engineer seeking employment named Zora Arkus-Duntovsent letters to Studebaker, Chrysler, Lincoln-Mercury, Ford, and General Motors, explaining his background in engineering and racing. Duntov was told that he’d find better opportunities with smaller companies, because big car companies make bread-and-butter vehicles, and don’t have much need for his skills. Zora wrote two letters directly to Chevrolet engineering chief, Ed Cole. In November 1952 Cole personally responded with, “… if you are ever in Detroit, let me know.” Duntov wasn’t happy, at least is wasn’t, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
As providence would have it, Zora went to the GM Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and “fell in love” with Harley Earl’s EX-122 “Corvette” concept car.Years later Duntov said, “… I thought it was the most beautiful car I had ever seen…” Just before the event, Maurice Olley, Ed Cole’s chassis and suspension man, was given Duntov’s first letter to respond to. On January 5, 1953 Olley wrote to Duntov, “If you are still available, and would consider employment with Chevrolet Engineering, we can arrange an interview.” After numerous letters and an interview in March with Cole and Olley, Duntov was offered a job as an assistant staff engineer, with a salary of $14,000. On May 1, 1953, Duntov was “let in the door” and things would never be the same.
Ed Cole’s motto was, “Kick the hell out of the establishment!”. Cole also hired Frank Winchell and three-time Indy 500 winner and engineer, Mauri Rose. Duntov and Rose hit it off great. Their boss, Maurice Olley, was a quite Englishman who did not like outbursts of enthusiasm; such as whistling. Rose could be abrasive and Duntov was outgoing and gregarious. It didn’t take long for Duntov and Olley to start chaffing. The GM blue/gray suit world was a very different from Zora’s European continental culture. The culture clash was shocking to Duntov.
Olley did not like Zora’s “Let’s try this!” style of engineering, he wanted calculations. Soon, Olley suggested Duntov might consider employment somewhere else. The final straw came when Duntov told Olley he was off to the 24 Hours of Le Mans drive for Allard. Olley said, “No!” so Duntov went over his head to Cole, who wasn’t much happier. Ed explained that Maurice was retiring soon and Zora was in good position to fill Olley’s place. When Zora explained that the Allards used Cadillac engines and engineers for assistance, Cole grudgingly agreed, but Duntov’s junket would be without pay. Zora was so put off, he bought a one-way ticket, intending to not return, and send for Elfi later! I’m sure that Ed Cole’s colleagues were telling him, “Ed, he’s all yours!” Duntov would be both “angel and devil” for Cole for the rest of his career at GM.
Although Cole was a corporate man, in his heart he was a car guy, and knew that the new 265 Chevy engine would be hot. Cole decided that two 1956 Chevy 210s should run the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with Duntov as part of the team and driver. The project was very successful with the cars breaking records. At the celebration party, Duntov proclaimed, “We ought to introduce the 1957 Corvette in a spectacular manor… lets show how fast the car will go!” Cole said, “Sure! How fast?” Duntov answered, “150-miles-per-hour!” Cole responded, “Yea, we should do that.” Duntov, being from another culture, thought Cole was serious!
Back at work, Duntov told his team, “Ed Cole said we should make a 150-mph Corvette.” So, the team set about the task. After some impressive performances with a heavily-modified mule 1954 Corvette with a 265 engine using a Duntov cam and aero tricks of the day, a team of three Corvettes went to the 1956 Daytona Beach Speed Trials. With John Fitch, Betty Skelton and Duntov driving, records were broken and the publicity was great. Cole was so thrilled; he proposed a three-car team to race at Sebring. Shockingly, Duntov told Cole that he wasn’t interesting in racing streetcars, so Cole put racer and engineer John Fitch in charge of the four-car Sebring effort. Duntov couldn’t resist a racing experience and joined the group of Chevrolet engineers. The Corvette took two class wins and Chevrolet ran their famous “Real McCoy” ads.
Later in 1956, Duntov heard that Harley Earl wanted to take a D-Type Jaguar, make a new “Corvette” body, and drop in a Corvette engine. This might have been a ploy, but Duntov said, No way!” Thus began the Corvette SS Racer project. Despite an embarrassing Sebring debut, Duntov was confident he could get the car ready for a three-car team for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unfortunately, GM chose to enforce the 1957 AMA Racing Ban. Not even Ed Cole could help.
The best Cole could do was to put Duntov and Mauri Rosein charge of a new “Off Road” parts program. Duntov handled the engineering and Rose worked with racers to field test the parts. This was the beginning of the Duntov “Racer Kit” series of options for Corvette customers. Cole’s idea birthed legends, including; 1957 RPO 684, 1963 RPO Z06, 1967 RPO L88, 1970 RPO ZR1, and many more. Ed Cole went on to become group vice president in 1961, executive vice president in 1965, and GM’s president in 1967.
Cole faced mandatory retirement from GM in 1974 at the age of 65. He immediately went to Checker Motors Corporation (Checker Cabs) and became chairman and CEO and was also chairman of International Huskey. Cole was an avid flier and a pilot. On May 2, 1977 Cole was tragically killed flying his private twin-engine Beagle B.206 Series 2 plane near Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Image; National Corvette Museum
1998 the National Corvette Museum launched there Hall of Fame. Ed Cole was one of the six men inducted that also included; Harley Earl, Zora Arkus-Duntov, Bill Mitchell, Joe Pike, and Larry Shinoda. – Scott
The Roman philosopher Seneca is credited for saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”When Harley Earl attended his first organized road race at Watkins Glen in September 1951, (the very first Watkins Glen Sports Car Grand Prix was in 1948) two things were glaringly obvious to him; First; “sports cars” were not a fad, there was real passion for the unique European cars he saw racing through the streets of Watkins Glen. And second: General Motors needed to build an American sports car – right away!
By 1951 Harley Earl was entering the twilight years of his long career in design and innovation. He was a true living legend. Earl knew everyone who was anyone in the automotive world and then some. He wielded so much power inside General Motors that he had a button on his desk to get a direct call to GM’s president Alfred P. Sloan. Earl was a personal friend of United States Air Force General Curtis LeMay and one day in the early 1950s the general said to him, “Why don’t you make an American sports car?”
The Strategic Air Command general loved sports cars and owned an Allard J2. GM even built LeMay a special Cadillac-powered Willys Jeep. LeMay was also instrumental in helping start the Sports Car Club of America and in 1954 was the recipient of the Woolf Barnato Award, the SCCA’s highest award for club contributors. Barnato won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1928, 1929, and 1930 and he was the only driver to ever win the Le Mans race every time he entered!Continue reading “Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Pt 1 of 6 – Designer Extraordinaire, Harley J. Earl”→
December 25th, 1909 – Happy Birthday to Corvette Godfather Zora Arkus-Duntov
Dateline 12.25.17: (UPDATE! My monthly column in Vette Magazine, “The Illustrated Corvette Series” is in the middle of a six-part series titled, “Corvette’s Founding Fathers”. Part 4, “Corvette Godfather, Zora Arkus Duntov” will be available soon on Super Chevy .com, and will be in the June 2018 issue of Vette that will be out in March 2018.)
Zora used to joke that he had the “birthday-Christmas curse”, which means you won’t get double the number of gifts– which is funny coming from him because he was Jewish. The man had an awesome sense of humor! Regardless, Zora Arkus-Duntov’s part in the Corvette story is just as important as the original design of the car.
When Zora went to work for GM on May 1, 1953, no one inside GM knew anything about serious sports car racing. IContinue reading “
Dec 25 1909 – Corvette Timeline Tales: Happy Birthday to Corvette Godfather Zora Arkus-Duntov – 2 VIDEOS” →
and 2D, 1967 Astro-I, and the 1968-Astro-II. 
