DATELINE: 3-19-22, this story first appeared in the January 2017 issue of Vette Vues Magazine – The C8 mid-engine Corvette is arguably the biggest news in the world of Corvettes since the very beginning in 1953. Many of us thought Chevrolet would never offer such a Corvette, but here we are. And thanks to an established pattern of performance track-model Corvettes that started in 2001 when Chevrolet decided to brand the car, “Z06” after the one-year-only 1963 Corvette, subsequent new model Corvettes have offered a Z06 model. Within minutes after the C6, C7, and now C8 Corvettes were debuted, fans’ second question (after “how much is the new Vette?”) is, “Where’s the Z06?” Yes, we expect it and Chevrolet has not let us down since.
As of this writing, Chevrolet has their Traveling Road Show in full-swing at select Chevrolet dealers to show the loyal faithful exactly what the new C8 Z06 is all about. On March 25, 2022, Stingray Chevrolet, in Plant City, Florida will be hosting their C8 Z06 presentation. No doubt, owner Steve Hurley will put on a fantastic presentation.
So, with that in mind, the next dozen or so posts here on Corvette Report will present stories I have written for Vette Vues Magazine over the last ten years about the Z06. The C8 Z06 did not arrive from nowhere, there’s been a progression of Z06 Corvettes that go back nearly 70 years to 1963 when “RPO-Z06” was an obscure, one-year-only “racer kit” option that Zora Arkus-Duntov seeded into the 1963 Corvette option list that was essentially a “suspension and brakes” option on top of the L84 Fuelie. There were no external badges or special body enhancement and the car looked like any other Fuelie Corvette. And truthfully, unless a customer wanted to go road racing with their new Corvette, the Z06’s performance suspension and brakes were of little value on the street. There was no fanfare and after 1963, no one but Zora and his hardcore racer friends missed the Z06, so the Z06 faded into Corvette history; that it until the release of the 2001 model year. Ever since then, the Z06 was THE track weapon for Corvette racers.
So, let’s have a look at how we got to where we are with the C8 Z06. It is arguably the most exciting story in Corvette history. – Scott
When I was a wee lad and would see the term, “For Off-Road Use Only” I used to think, “Well who drives these cars in the dirt and grass?” What I didn’t understand was that the term is code for “RACING”! Beginning in 1957, Chevrolet’s new general manager, Ed Cole, made the command decision that he would let “customers” carry the Corvette racing mantle by offering Chevrolet-engineered parts, specifically designed for racing, available through the Chevrolet Parts Department. Continue reading “Z06 Corvette Review, Pt 1 – The 1963 Z06 Racer Kit”→
Before the 1969 427 ZL1, there was the All-Aluminum 377 Small-block Chevy!
Dateline: 5-7-21, This story by K. Scott Teeters was first published in the October 2019 issue of VETTE magazine – In the early 1960s, an aluminum performance engine was as exotic as fuel injection, independent suspension, and four-wheel disc brakes. The first mention of an all-aluminum engine for a Corvette was in Zora Arkus-Duntov’s proposal outline for the Q-Corvette in 1957. Ed Cole was Chevrolet chief engineer from 1952 to 1956 and was the lead engineer in the design and development of the small-block Chevy.
The Wintersteen L88 Grand Sport #002 resides at the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Part of the collection includes the hand-made #002 Roadster replica body and one of the all-aluminum 377 SBC engines that Dr. Simeone purchased from Jim Jeager. The replica body is mounted to a chassis buck with an interior.
Cole was a mechanical engineering visionary. After he became Chevrolet’s general manager in 1956, Cole announced his 1960 Q-Chevrolet concept that would put a transaxle into every car to improve traction and handling and eliminate the transmission hump that would open up the interior. Cole’s plan included the Corvette.
Even before going to work for Chevrolet, all Duntov wanted to do was to build racecars. Based on his racing knowledge, Duntov’s Q-Corvette was spectacular and included; a four-speed transaxle, four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, and an all-aluminum fuel injected 283 engine. Duntov is usually credited with the all-aluminum small-block Chevy, a deeper look tells a slightly different beginning.
The design parameters of Cole’s SBC were that the engine should be; small, lightweight, simple, and inexpensive. Cole reasoned that an aluminum version of the SBC using a new aluminum-silicone alloy would be obviously lighter and probably less expensive to make. To keep costs down, there would be no valve seat inserts, no pressed-in valve guide inserts, or cylinder liners. But sometimes a simple idea turns out to not be so simple.
Problems started right from the beginning. The complex molds used sand cores and the completed castings required extensive machining. Sand-cast aluminum is high in porosity and low in density. During machining, cavities would open up in the castings, causing a high rejection rate, which drove up the cost.
Another indication that this is likely to be one of the Nassau Invasion 377s is the chrome stamped steel valve covers. Photos in the “Corvette Grand Sport” book by Paddock and Friedman from the race show the same valve covers.
Aluminum pistons on aluminum bores were hard to lubricate and would scuff the bores. Between the strength of materials and the casting challenges, pouring aluminum into molds designed for cast iron wasn’t going to work for mass production.
Weber carbs were THE hot setup in the 1960s before fuel injection became more efficient. The 377 used four massive 58mm side-draft carburetors. The “EW” on the float chamber cover stands for Edoardo Weber, the founder, and inventor of the Weber carburetor.
A few aluminum engines were completed. Duntov installed one in his CERV-I car in 1959, but the valves would freeze to the guides when the temperature went low. Mickey Thompson got an aluminum engine for an Indy car project and bored the cylinders to installed steel sleeves to reduce the C.I.D. to the Indy limit of 255-C.I.D.
Note the non-stock location of the alternator. This was to slightly lower the car’s center of gravity.
Roger Penske had TRACO modestly build an aluminum SBC to just 300-horsepower for his Cooper Monaco. When TRACO was done, the engine weighed just 350-pounds; the lightest of all the aluminum SBCs.
Forensic evidence gleaned from the book, “Corvette Grand Sport” by Paddock and Friedman indicates that based on the shape of the collector on the headers, this was most likely one of the engines used during the Nassau assault in 1963.
The original SBC was never designed to be cast in aluminum. So when exact copies were cast in aluminum, the basic weaknesses of the original design were obvious. In 1960 some Corvette brochures offered 275 and 315-horsepower fuel injection engines with aluminum heads but were canceled early in production due to breakage. Briggs Cunningham was to be given several sets of aluminum heads for his Corvette Le Mans assault, but none were installed.
When Duntov started planning his Lightweight Sting Rays in early 1962 to battle Shelby’s Cobras, the SBC had 327-cubic-inches. Duntov insisted on an all-aluminum 327, reasoning that the heavy-duty parts from the L84 Fuelie would be more than enough for his racing engine. Unlike the previous aluminum engines, steel cylinder liners were pressed into the block. After each block was machined, it was water-tested for leaks. If leaks couldn’t be fixed with welding they were scrapped.
The most significant change to the basic block was that the main bearing webs were thicker and four-bolt main bearing caps were used. The earlier aluminum SBCs were not delivering any significant power increases, so it was decided that more cubic inches were needed. A 4.00-inch stroke yielded 402-cubic-inches. However, experimentation showed that the engine was happier with a 3.75-inch stroke that yielded 377-cubic-inches. Notches had to be made into the insides of the block for connecting rod clearance.
Numerous cylinder head designs were considered. The wildest was a hemi head design with two spark plugs per cylinder. The hemispherical combustion chamber allowed for larger 2.20-inch intake and 1.72 exhaust valves. The intake system was a Rochester constant-flow fuel-injection unit. This was Duntov’s preferred engine for his Lightweight but never was developed or tested. Engineers expected 600-horsepower from the 402-cubic-inch configuration.
The Mark II big-block with its unique “porcupine” semi-hemi heads was in development, so engineers designed and cast similar sets of aluminum heads for the SBC. Initial tests showed that they did not flow as well as the standard wedge combustion chamber heads, so the concept was dropped. If the heads had been developed they could have been a game-changer and made it into production cars.
Twelve aluminum 377 blocks were successfully machined and designated “A” to “L”. WhenJohn Mecum took delivery of three Grand Sport Corvettes as part of his Nassau invasion, the cars had aluminum 377s with four 58-mm Webers. After the Grand Sports stomped the Cobras at Nassau, the cars were bought and sold at a brisk pace.
Engineers learned that the aluminum 377s were good for short races, such as Nassau, but not durable for long races, such as Sebring. When Penske raced Grand Sport #005 at Sebring in 1964, his car was powered by a steel version of the 377 and performed very well.
Several of the engines were sent to Jim Hall and installed into his Chaparrals. Hall was instructed to install the engines and not to change anything except for timing and settings for the Webers. The engines were plugged in, raced, and returned to Chevrolet for evaluation.
The inscription of the transmission is unusual and indicates that it was likely to have been a specially built unit. “W.O.26310” could have meant “Work Order”. “TRANS #7-B” could have meant the second rebuild of transmission #7. Also note that the bolts on the case side plate are aircraft safety wired. A special team at Chevrolet built all of the 377 engines, the safety wiring was likely a deterrent to tampering.
As the engines were raced, eventually nearly everything either failed or upon examination was soon to fail. For instance, when one engine threw a rod, engineers used a new process for making rods called, Vacuum-Induction Melt steel to insure no impurities in the raw forging. When bolts were magnafluxed and showed signs of stress, all bolts were then over-designed. Rocker-arm lube was another issue and there were electrical problems with the early-transistorized regulators and ignition amplifiers.
Note the serial number on the back of the block casting, “0240983” and the casting date, “8-20-63”. This “could” have been one of the engines used in the 1963 Nassau assault in early December 1963 that stomped on the Cobras.
Exhaust headers were showing signs of cracking at the ports due to metallurgical problems. This was fixed by using a different welding process. Camshaft gears were failing when dry-sump oil systems were installed. Excessive stress and wear on the camshaft drive gear caused the distributor to retard the timing; causing a drop-off in power.
Privateers raced all of the Grand Sports and many changes were made to the cars. One of the previous owners of the Simeone 377 built this expanded capacity oil pan. Original versions of the engines used as many stock performance parts as possible
The perceived advantage of the all-aluminum SBC was weight; the complete engine weighed 150-pounds less than a cast iron version, however, the aluminum engines didn’t make quite as much power. Because durability was such a serious issue, in the early years, development work went into durability.
Eventually, the aluminum SBC reached optimum development, priced itself out of racing, and didn’t contribute any parts that went into production engines. Close to the end, there was talk of an overhead-cam kit for the SBC, but no action was taken. The amount of money spent on the program was an accounting nightmare for sure. At best, all the problem-solving saved years of development time for the all-aluminum Can-Am block and the ZL1. In a sense, the all-aluminum SBC was a prehistoric ZL1, domed by the basic “bread and butter” design of the original SBC. – Scott
Reproductions of this post’s lead illustration of the All-Aluminum 377 Small-Block Chevy and the Grand Sport #005 are available as 11″ x 17″ prints, signed and numbered by the artist, CLICK HERE!
And for fans of the 1963 Grand Sport Corvette, we have LOTS of Grand Sport Corvette prints CLICK HERE!
Duntov carried the heart and soul of the Corvette into racing and created an American legend.
(Dateline: 7-3-20 – This story was originally published in the now-defunct Vette magazine, June 2019 issue) Arguably, there had never been a chief engineer of an American car the likes of Zora Arkus-Duntov. When Duntov was hired to work at Chevrolet on May 1, 1953, the 43-year old European-trained engineer brought a background that made him uniquely qualified to become Corvette’s first chief engineer.
As a young man, Duntov was into boxing, motorcycles, fast cars, and pretty girls. After his formal engineering training in Berlin, Germany, Duntov started racing cars and applying his engineering skills to racecar construction. In 1935 Duntov built his first racecar with help from his racing partner Asia Orley; they called the car, “Arkus”. Their goal was to debut the car at the Grand Prix de Picardie in June 1935. But after a series of mishaps, the car caught fire and never raced. From this point forward, all Duntov wanted to do was build racecars.
Image: GM Archives
In the 1930s Auto Union and Mercedes built the best racecars in Europe. Duntov wrote a technical paper about a new racing concept for the German Society of Engineers titled “Analysis of Four-Wheel Drive for Racing Cars”. at the 1937 Automobile Salon in Paris, Duntov met Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, the designer of the Mercedes-Benz SS and SSK racers, and French performance-car builder and designer, Ettore Bugatti. Mercedes-Benz cars were complex engineering marvels, but Duntov appreciated Bugatti’s elegant simplicity, raw speed, and the success of his cars with privateers. “Simplicity and privateers” are two hints of things Duntov would later do with Corvettes.
Image: CorvetteForum.com
After marrying Elfi Wolff in 1939, war broke out in Europe, and Duntov and his brother Yura had a brief stint in the French air force. France fell quickly and Duntov and his family made their way to New York. The brothers setup the Ardun Mechanical Corporation and worked through the war years as parts suppliers for the U.S. military. After the war Duntov and Yura turned their attention back to racecars and started producing their Ardun Hemi Head Conversion kits for flathead Fords.
Post-war years were difficult and by the early ‘50s Duntov was looking for an engineering job with a major Detroit car company. His goal was to find a company that would let him build racecars. When Duntov saw the first Corvette at the 1953 Motorama, he immediately pursued GM, specifically to work on the new Corvette. Chevrolet general manager Ed Cole hired Duntov and assigned him to work under GM suspension master, Maurice Olley; the clash was immediate. Olley was reserved and a numbers-cruncher; Duntov was outgoing and designed by intuition. Six weeks after being hired, Duntov requested time-off to race a Cadillac-powered Allard JR at The 24 Hours of Le Mans. Olley refused, but Cole got him off the hook to race at Le Mans, but without pay. Duntov was so irritated that he almost didn’t come back from France.After his return, Duntov reassigned and started testing special parts to improve the Corvette’s suspension and general performance.
Image: GM Archives
When the 265 small-block became available in 1955, Duntov took a modified ’54 Corvette with the new engine and some aero mods to the GM Phoenix Arizona test track where he was clocked at 162-mph. The mule Corvette was later rebodied as a ’56 Corvette and was part of a team of three Corvettes that were taken to the 1956 Speed Weeks event at Daytona Beach where Corvettes set speed records. Then in March at the 1956 12 Hours of Sebring race, Corvette scored its first major class win. Duntov and three-time Indy 500 winner and engineer Mauri Rose were then tasked by Ed Cole to design, develop, and make available, special Chevrolet-engineered racing parts. When the Rochester Fuel Injection option was released in 1957, RPO 684 Heavy-Duty Racing Suspension was there for privateers that wanted to race their Corvette.
Illustration & Graphics – K. Scott Teeters
The Bugatti pattern was laid down; make simple, fast cars, and let the privateers do the racing. Duntov also built a few purpose-built Corvette racecars. The 1957 Corvette SS was a good first step but the timing was bad because of the 1957 AMA Racing Ban. The Grand Sport was similar to the RPO Racer Kit program, only a complete, basic racing Corvette was to be sold to privateers. Again, the AMA Racing Ban killed the project. If Duntov hadn’t pushed racing, the Corvette would have morphed into a Thunderbird-like four-seater and been killed by the early ‘60s.
Duntov laid out three design concepts that took decades to implement. The first was his proposal for the 1957 Q-Corvette. This design called for the following: an all-aluminum, fuel-injected small-block engine, four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, and a transaxle. This design concept arrived in 1997 as the C5.
The second design concept was the mid-engine layout. Duntov’s first mid-engine concept was the 1960 CERV-I. The design parameters were those of an Indy 500 racecar, but with a larger engine. Duntov’s second mid-engine car was the 1964 CERV-II. The third concept in the CERV-II was its unique four-wheel-drive system. Using transaxle parts from the Pontiac Tempest, the system “worked” but would not have lasted as a racecar.
Through the ‘60s several other mid-engine “Corvette” cars were built, but not by Duntov. Engineer Frank Winchell’s 1968 Astro-II Corvette was a beautiful attempt, but like all mid-engine Corvette proposals, it went nowhere. In 1970 Duntov showed his XP-882 with a transverse-mounted 454 engine. After the car was shown at the 1970 New York Auto Show, it went into hiding for some reason. Later, the chassis was used to build the Four-Rotor mid-engine Corvette that was later retrofitted with a small-block engine and rebranded “Astrovette” in 1976, after Duntov retired.
Image: GM Archives
Just after the debut of the C7, the Corvette community started buzzing about the mid-engine C8. For a time the C8 was an unconfirmed rumor until Chevrolet announced that, yes, a mid-engine Corvette was in the works. In 2018 camouflaged mule cars started being seen on public roads. In July 2018 a camouflaged C8.R was seen being tested. Towards the end of 2018 speculation was that the C8 would debut at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show. Then in December 2018, Chevrolet announced that the C8 would be delayed “at least six months” due to “serious electrical problems.”
An insider friend has been telling me for over a year that they were having serious problems getting the car right, but he wasn’t specific. Then another hint was dropped; the problem is with the car’s 48-volt electrical system. Why would the C8 have a 48-volt system? Answer; because it will have auxiliary electrical front-wheel drive. Suspension and traction is everything, so AWD is inevitable.
Illustration & Graphics – K. Scott Teeters
While Duntov didn’t “predict” the Corvette’s future, he certainly set the course. His insistence that Corvette be tied to racing, kept the car from becoming Chevy’s Thunderbird. The features of the 1957 Q-Corvette are the very design foundation of the C5, C6, and C7 Corvette. The CERV I, CERV II, and the XP-882 (minus the transverse engine) will live in the mid-engine C8. And it is likely that the CERV II’s all-wheel-drive concept will live in the C8, only as an electrical, and not a mechanical system. Without one man’s obsession with building racecars, there’d be no Corvette legend. – Scott
Be sure to check out the Duntov installment of my “Founding Fathers, Pt. 4 Zora Arkus-Duntov”, HERE.
Also, catch all 5 parts of my Corvette Chiefs Series
The Corvette Chassis That Maurice Olley & Mauri Rose Built
Photo: GM Archives
Dateline 7.17.19, As seen in the December 2018 issue of Vette Magazine – Corvettes are kind of like a beautiful woman. Sure, she’s a beauty, but is she smart and athletic? From the beginning, Corvettes have consistently been unique, beautiful cars that look like nothing else on the road. Even the hardboiled engineer and racer Zora Arkus-Duntov was disarmed by the beauty of the 1953 Motorama Corvette, such that he immediately knew he wanted to be part of Chevrolet’s bold American sports car effort. (Zora was always a pushover for beautiful women!)
Graphics: K. Scott Teeters
Now, it is no secret that the 1953 Corvette cars were more like “pilot program cars” or “work in progress cars.” The assembly workers and designers were literally grooming and refining Corvettes as they were being built for sale! Consequently, many of the early Corvettes from 1953 to 1955 weren’t so good.
Graphics: K. Scott Teeters
While the initial response by the press was very positive, as cars were road tested and customers gave their feedback, the Corvette’s glow diminished. The term “parts bin car” started being bantered about. This is only partially correct and dishonors the fact that the first Corvette’s chassis was designed by one of the best chassis men of the day, Maurice Olley. Former Allison Engineering Company engineer and three-time Indy 500 winner, Mauri Rose, oversaw construction of the first Corvette chassis.
Graphics: K. Scott Teeters
The original mission of the Corvette was to be a “sporty” street Chevy, not a racecar. The basic design and structure was so good for its day that after the bugs were worked out, and Zora Arkus-Duntov and Mauri Rose started developing racing parts for Corvette customers, a properly optioned Corvette could easily be made into a competitive SCCA racecar! In fact, with the basic design in tact and optioned with the Fuelie engine, racing suspension and brakes, Corvettes were dominating SCCA B/Production and A/Production classes by the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Photo: K. Scott Teeters
Three hundred Corvettes rolled off the makeshift assembly plant in Flint, Michigan between June 30, 1953 and December 24, 1953. When the St. Louis plant came online on December 28, 1953, Chevrolet produced 3,640 Blue Flame Six-powered, 1954 Corvettes – now available in four colors: Polo White, Pennant Blue, Sportsman Red, and Black. 1955 saw the introduction of the all-new, lightweight 265 Chevy engine and a 3-speed manual transmission – you’d think that sales would have seriously taken off – but they did not! Only 700 1955 Corvettes were built and only seven had the Blue Flame Six engine. What happened?
Photo: K. Scott Teeters
Obviously, the car stumbled off the starting line. Corvettes were expensive and the build quality was spotty at best. Even the heater and radio were optional! Keep in mind that from 1953 to 1954, there were no mainstream-manufactured American sports cars. (Ford’s Thunderbird arrived in 1955.) Sports cars were a very, very small automotive market segment. From 1953 to 1955 Chevrolet sold 4,640 Corvettes compared to 1,774,238 Bel Air cars! European sports cars were being imported to America in the early 1950s, but in very small numbers compared to the gigantic market for big American cars.
Outside of the very small world of sports car enthusiasts, the Corvette made no sense at all. The Thunderbird “made sense” because it was loaded with creature comforts and had a solid, steel body with real roll-up side windows. That’s why even though the prices of the two cars were very close, Ford sold 16,155 Thunderbirds in 1955, compared to 700 ’55 Corvettes. T-Bird sales dipped to 15,631 in 1956 and then hit 21,380 in 1957, just in time for Ford to abandon the 2-seater sports car market in favor of the four-seater personal luxury car segment.
Photo: K. Scott Teeters
The two biggest criticisms of the Corvette were the six-cylinder engine and automatic transmission. Lets take this apart. In-line six-cylinder or four-cylinder engines powered most European sports cars of the day, and several had exotic, double overhead-cam heads. Automatic transmissions were considered state-of-the art, advanced American automotive technology in the 1950s. Automatics freed drivers from dealing with clunky gearboxes, loose shifters, stiff clutches, and double-clutching. The automatic transmission was seen as a luxury feature.
Graphics: K. Scott Teeters
Motor Trend Magazine’s editor (and MG owner), Walt Woron had this to say about the ’53 Corvette, “To a purist like me the idea of an automatic transmission in a sports car is unthinkable, even if the lever is next to the drive shaft tunnel.” But after three-time Indy 500 winner Mauri Rose gave Mr. Woron a ride around the GM test track, easily downshifting, braking, and accelerating out of corners, Woron said, “I had to admit grudgingly that an automatic could be at home in a sports car.” It is ironic that today the C7 automatic Corvette delivers performance on par with the manual transmission C7. It seems that we have come full-circle.
But the unkindest insult leveled against the C1 Corvette was that it was a clumsy attempt by Chevrolet to build a “parts bin sports car.” As if to say that Harley Earl, Ed Cole, Maurice Olley, and Mauri Rose slap-dashed together car and presented it as “America’s sports car.” I will dispel this myth once and for all. Although it was Harley Earl that came up with the concept and directed the shape of the first Corvette, it was Chevrolet’s new chief of engineering and soon to become general manager, Ed Cole that was the corporate driving force behind the project. Cole was part of the generation of WW-II era men with a “Let’s get it done, now!” attitude. Cole loved being a corporate rebel. His motto was, “Kick the hell out of the status quo!” Cole liked to “shake things up” so he created his Dream Team to create his Chevrolet sports car.
Photo: Amazon.com
Maurice Olley was in the closing years of his long career as an engineer and was recognized as one of the best suspension and R&D engineers of his time. Olley was British had been the personal designer for Sir Henry Royce (as in, “Rolls Royce”) and was later the chief engineer for Rolls Royce in America. From 1930 to 1937 Olley was a special projects engineer for Cadillac and General Motors. During WW II Olley was the engineering representative for Rolls Royce LTD, USA (aircraft engines) and then was appointed to the British Ministry of Supply (tanks). Cole hired Olley in 1952 and knew he had the best chassis engineer he could find. Olley had over 40 U.S. and Canadian Patients to his name, authored numerous technical papers, and wrote the book, “Chassis Design: Principles and Analysis”. (This book is available on Amazon.com)
Photo: AutoWeek.com
Mauri Rose was an engineer first and a racecar driver second – but his driving was a mighty fine “second”! Rose was the third driver to win the Indy 500 three times – 1941, 1947 and 1948. The first was Louis Meyer 1928, 1933, and 1936. The second was Wilber Shaw in 1937, 1939, and 1940. Rose was also one of the test drivers for GM’s 1953 Firebird XP-21 gas-turbine experimental car. Mauri drove the experimental car at (where else?) the Indianapolis Speedway – just for “feasibility testing.” Fourteen years later in 1967, Parnelli Jones almost won the Indy 500 with the STP-Paxton Turbine-Engine racecar.
Photo: GM Archives
When Ed Cole hired Rose, he told him, “You’re the man to do the sports car!” The rest of the main players on the dream team roster included stylist Robert McLean and body engineer Ellis “Jim” Premo. McLean was tasked with establishing the basic parameters for Earl’s Project Opel sports car. He set the wheelbase at 102-inches and placed the in-line-six engine back seven-inches closer to the dash than in a regular Chevy. Weight distribution came in at 53/47 front-to-rear. Earl wanted trendy wrap-around windshield glass and clear plexi headlight covers.
In April 1952, using a full-size model, Ed Cole and Thomas Keating pitched the concept of an “American sports car” to GM president Harlow Curtice. They were seeking approval to build an experimental version to showcase at the 1953 Motorama show. Curtice liked what he saw and approved the project. With an approval in hand, Cole showed Maurice Olley the full-size model and tasked him with designing a suitable chassis. The task was to: “produce a sports car, using existing, reliable components, adequate performance, comfortable ride, stable handling, in less than seven months to the Motorama Show and 12 months to production.” Ten days later, Olley had the basic chassis design sketched out for “Project Opel.” The name “Corvette” would arrive in September 1952, thanks to the work of Chevrolet PR man, Myron Scott.
Photo: K. Scott Teeters
Here are the basics of Olley’s “Project Opel” chassis. The box side rails were made from two U-channels per side, nested together in opposite directions to form a box-section, then stitched-welded together, and shaped. The center X-member was made from I-beam steel with holes cut in the “I” part of the beam for the duel exhaust to pass through. There were 11 body mount points on the chassis. The completed frame weighed 213-pounds – considered “light” in 1952!
R&D engineer, Walter “Walt” Zetye worked out the final details of the suspension and steering systems. The independent front suspension, while looking quite ordinary, had just been totally redesigned in 1949 by GM engineer Kai Hansen. Maurice Olley had also done independent front suspension R&D work for GM in the 1930s while running the Product Study Department. For its day this was considered a major improvement over I-beam front axles. The one-inch diameter Delco shocks were mounted inside each coil spring, between parallel-wishbone A-arms, with kingpin spindles and ball joints. The oversized front sway bar was mounted high atop the front engine cradle/crossmember that was bolted to the right and left side rails.
Photo: K. Scott Teeters
The rear suspension used a stock Chevy differential with 3.55:1 gears and 51-inch long Chevy leaf springs, commonly known then as a “Hotchkiss drive system.” The Hotchkiss system used a driveshaft with universal joints at both ends. Most Detroit cars used a torque tube that only had one U-joint behind the transmission. Because the centerline of the crankshaft/transmission driveline was above the X-member of the frame, U-joints were needed at both ends of the 36-inch driveshaft because the rear axle input was lower than the engine/transmission centerline. The rear axle sat atop four leaf springs and was held in place with U-bolts. The leaf spring shackles held the rear axle in position for-and-aft. Rebound straps limited rear axle rebound. (In 1959 radius rods connected both sides of the rear axle to the frame rails to cure wheel-hop.) A Saginaw worm-and-sector steering box was used with a mildly-quick 16:1 steering ratio. Remember, this was the days of no power steering, so steering ratios were high and steering wheel diameters were large for increased mechanical leverage to make steering easy. Brakes were to be the bane of Corvette racers for years, but for street use, stock Chevy brakes with 11-inch drums were used on all four wheels and were considered adequate.
The Blue Flame Six engine is much maligned, but for its day, was pretty stout and had many improvements over the old 235-CID, 115-hp Stovebolt Six. Inside, the Blue Flame Six had aluminum pistons (a first for this engine), improved lubrication, and more durable main bearings. Compression was bumped up to 8:1 and a more aggressive solid-lifter cam was used with .405-inch intake lift and .414 exhaust lift. A metal cam gear replaced the standard fiber cam gear, dual valve springs and stronger exhaust completed the valvetrain. A high-efficiency water pump was installed and shielding was added to the distributor and plug wires. To eliminate the need for a hood bulge, three horizontal Carter one-barrel carbs were used and mounted to a special aluminum intake manifold. The exhaust system used a split manifold with dual exhaust pipes and mufflers. A high-efficiency water pump with a remote header tank for the radiator kept the hot-rodded Blue Flame Six in the cool zone. While the final version of the Blue Flame Six was rated at 150-horsepower, Mauri Rose said, “We finally got 190-horsepower… but the idle isn’t so good and it didn’t start so well… so we gave up on the roller-camshaft. We ended up with around 150-160-horsepower.”
Photo: GM Archives
Mauri Rose literally hand-fabricated the very first Corvette chassis as if he was constructing a purpose-built racecar. Rose later said, “We did all the work in a loft, not the Chevrolet factory. We built the whole chassis there. This was a crash program. They took their sketches right to the build shop and roughed up the chassis in wood and Styrofoam right off the drawing boards. If it wasn’t right, they tore it down and started over.”
The use of the 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission was purely for expediency. It was the least costly way to build the car on such a short notice. The three-speed manual transmission arrived in late 1955 and the four-speed in 1957. Most Americans considered the automatic transmission an automotive advancement, but to traditional sports car buffs, this was sacrilege. Performance of the 1953 Corvette was considered “good” for its day: 0-60 time was 11.5-seconds, the quarter-mile in 18-seconds, and the top speed was 110-mph.
Here’s how Maurice Olley defended the Corvette’s automatic transmission,“As the sports car appeals to a wider and wider section of the public, the center of gravity is shifting from the austerity of the pioneer towards the luxury of modern ideas. There’s no reason to apologize for the performance of this car with its automatic transmission.” Clearly, Olley wasn’t into racing, but then again, in 1952 when the Corvette chassis was being designed, here was Chevrolet’s official statement for their new two-seater sports car; “The car is not intended to be used as a racing car.”(By 1956 this was not the case.)
Illustration: K. Scott Teeters
While the first three years of the Corvette were rough, the basic structure design was unchanged from 1953 to 1962. The makeover of the 1956 model was a game-changer, even though the basic structure and interior were the same. The public was used to seeing new designs on familiar cars, so a refresh wasn’t that unusual. The new design was still looked clean and light. Because Duntov went on to become the Corvette chief engineer, Zora is generally credited with the long series of performance parts, unofficially known as “racer kits.” However, there’s more to that story.
Rose and Duntov’s experience and expertise was so valued that in September 1955 Ed Cole decided that starting with the 1956 Corvette, the two men would be responsible for the design and development of RPO equipment necessary to make the Corvette capable of competing in racing events. By January 1956, “racer kit” options started to become available. This was the beginning of Chevrolet’s first venture into the world of factory-backed sports car racing, as plans were laid out for a racing team to field modified Corvettes to race at Sebring and Le Mans.
Illustration: K. Scott Teeters
Initially, Duntov was not excited about the plan because of the1955 Le Mans disaster that killed 83 spectators, one driver, and injured over 120 others just a few months before. Zora knew the Corvette’s brakes weren’t up to racing standards and did not want to see a Corvette cause a similar disaster at Sebring. This was no doubt the impetus for the elaborate brakes that were part of the 1957 RPO 684 Heavy Duty Racing Suspension option.
Photo: K. Scott Teeters
Early in 1956, Chevrolet’s Marketing Department encouraged Corvette customers to race their Vettes with an ad headline that read, “Bring on the hay bales!” After the Corvette’s big class-win at Sebring in the March 1956, Chevrolet ran an ad featuring the Corvette Sebring racer with the headline, “The Real McCoy”. Chevy’s new general manager, Ed Cole announced, “We’re in the sports car business to stay.”
Photo: GM Archives
The magic that Duntov and Rose delivered via their RPO program was pure, racing parts development. Duntov and his engineers improved shocks, shock mount points, springs, sway-bars, brakes, rear suspension, added rear trailing arms, and many other small details. This added up to a car that was a solid foundation for a serious SCCA B/Production and A/Production racecar. Rose got the prototype parts to the racers and even thrashed a few Corvette racecars with Smokey Yunick. Rose’s strong, “Let’s get to work and get dirty!” work ethic impressed Yunick, a man NOT easily impressed! Smokey said about Rose, “He was a hard-working, sharp, ‘run to win or bust’ sort of cat.”
Photo: Amazon.com
Maurice Olley retired on December 31, 1955 and was inducted into the National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame in 2008. Mauri Rose went on to drive the 1967 Camaro Pace Car at the 1967 Indy 500 race, after which he faded into automotive history, and died on January 1, 1981 at the age of 74.
Photos: GM Archives, Graphics, K. Scott Teeters
So, when you see stories about championship C1 Corvette racecars, remember that the commonality they all share is that they ride on the chassis that Olley and Rose built. – Scott
Watch some old school fun in this ride-along video from the passenger-side seat of this racing 1956/1957 Corvette.
Dateline: 11.13.18 – Corvette racecars from the 1950s look absolutely prehistoric from our modern perspective. They were 100-percent mechanical beasts. This video beautifully captures the sights and sounds of this old world racing Corvette.
Back in the day, just like today, Corvettes had plenty of grunt and only needed improved suspension and brakes. That’s what Chevy’s RPO racing parts program was all about. Chevrolet general manager, Ed Cole, charged engineers Zora Arkus-Duntov and three-time Indy 500 winner Mauri Rose, with running the program.
Duntov oversaw the engineering in Detroit and tested the special parts at the GM Proving Ground, and Rose was the field engineer that worked with Smokey Yunick and various racers to field test and improve the parts. By the end of the 1959s, Corvettes were winning championships and were beginning to dominate.
Just for some contrast, I’ve included an in-car video from one of the C7.R Corvettes. Here’s Tommy Milner in the C7.R at Daytona in 2014.
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:
When Harley Earl’s XP-122 “Corvette” debuted at the 1953 GM Motorama, the clean design was way ahead of cars of the day. The look reflected Earl’s style; long hood, low, and rounded – a simple yet beautiful design. Earl was five years away from retirement and had already handpicked his replacement, William L. Mitchell. Bill learned the corporate ropes from Earl, and while a faithful lieutenant, had his own unique style that completely changed the look of the Corvette.
This is Mitchell and the 1959 Stingray Racer. Note the red paint and clear hood scoop. This is what the car looked like when it was in the Elvis Presley movie, “Clambake”. See the photos of The King and the 1959 Stingray Racer at the bottom of this post.
One of Mitchell’s famous quotes is, “I got gasoline in my veins!” Mitchell’s father owned a Buick dealership, so Bill grew up surrounded by cars. Born on July 2, 1912 in Greenville, Pennsylvania, as a kid Bill was always drawing cars. His father sent him to Carnegie Tech to learn to draw something besides cars, but it didn’t work. After college Bill got a job at Collier Advertising as an office boy, went to night school for art, and quickly worked his way into the art department. Still “drawing cars”, Bill befriended Sam, Miles, and Barron Jr. Collier with the common interest in, you guessed it, cars.
On the weekends Bill would hang out with the Colliers at their Tarrytown, New York estate, between the Rockefeller and Stillman estates. The guys had a blast roaring around the grounds in MG sports cars. The Collier brothers were so into racing, they started the Sports Car Club of America, and their pal Bill was their official illustrator. Walter Carey, an industrialist and friend of Harley Earl, saw some of Bill’s illustrations and asked him if he ever considered designing cars. Bill answered, “No.” Carey suggests Bill send him some illustrations to forward to Earl. This was the summer of 1935 and by December, Harley Earl hired Bill Mitchell to work as a designer at General Motors. Bill would work for GM until he was 65 years old.
Bill was a natural and a quick learner. A year later, he was in charge of the Cadillac studio! Through the 1930s to the mid-1950s Mitchell created the 1938 Cadillac Sixty Special, the 1949 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, the 1955-1957 Bel Airs, and many other now-classic cars. Mitchell got along very well with Earl and was never on the receiving end of an Earl’s volcanic dress-downs; Bill knew how to “go-along to get-along.” Mitchell liked Earl’s Corvette and since he knew that Earl’s design kingdom would soon be his, had his own vision for a future Corvette.
On May 1, 1954 Mitchell was promoted to GM Director of Design, but still under Harley Earl. To save the struggling Corvette, Earl was directing the next Corvette based on his Olds “Golden Rocket” Motorama show car. The new designs were classic Earl: very rounded, with a bulbous top, a split rear window, and fins. But GM decided to drop Earl’s new concept to reevaluate the Corvette.
Here’s Bill Mitchell with his two favorite fish – the 1959 Stingray Racer and the 1961 Mako Shark-I. Snappy coat, Bill!
Meanwhile, Mitchell’s group was working on what would later be called the “Q-Corvette”. Upon his arrival back from the 1957 Turin Auto Show, Mitchell gave design studio manager, Bob Veryzer’s team photos from the show, with instructions that he liked the bulging fenders and sharp beltline of the Abarth 750 and the Abarth Alfa 1000 streamliner. Mitchell was looking for something new and different. He told the group of designers, “I want this form to be a complete breakaway from what we’ve seen around here in the past.”
Peter Brock was part of the team and was the youngest designer ever hired by GM. Brock described Mitchell as, “… garrulous, rather extroverted and often profane when he wanted to emphasize a point. Mitchell made sure everyone knew he was the boss, but still loved being “one of the guys.” Mitchell closed out his informal meeting saying, “I’ll be back in a few days kids; show me what you’ve got.” The young designers created dozens of sketches with Mitchell keying in on a Peter Brock sketch. The design process went around and around, yet each time Mitchell came back to Brock’s drawing, which eventually became XP-87, the Q-Corvette, which eventually became Mitchell’s 1959 Stingray Racer, but as a roadster.
Mitchell’s Stingray Racer was another chapter in his feisty career. After his promotion to VP of Design and despite GM’s racing ban, he indulged himself by “buying” the mule chassis of the 1957 Corvette SS, and had his guys adapt the Q-Corvette body to the chassis so that he could go racing. In a large meeting, GM president John F. Gordon said, “I thought everyone knew we were out of racing.” Later Mitchell asked Gordon, “Were you talking about me?” Gordon replied, “Damn right I was!” Mitchell asked. “Do I have to quit?” Gordon snorted, “You’ve got to quite right now!” Bill wrote Gordon a letter explaining that he got his job from racing, because that’s what he did – like a doctor going to conventions. Later Mitchell asked Gordon if he’d read the letter and Gordon replied, “I sure as hell did. You’re a good salesman. You can go ahead. Keep it off the property and spend your own money.” Yes, Bill dodged a bullet! Mitchell raced the car for two years and won a championship with no external marking besides, “Stingray”. The fan response was so intense; the next Corvette had be the Stingray.
1963 was a banner year for Bill Mitchell’s cars, as the Sting Ray and his “personal luxury car” the Buick Riviera both arrived. Like the Sting Ray, Mitchell didn’t lay down a single line himself, he knew what he wanted and gave direction until he saw what he was thinking. His instructions for the Riviera were that he wanted to combine a Rolls Royce with a Ferrari. That interesting mix turned into another Mitchell classic.
As soon as the 1963 Sting Ray released, Mitchell got started on the next new Corvette. When he brought in his team of advanced designers, lead by Larry Shinoda, he told them he wanted, “…a “narrow, slim, selfish” center section and coupe body, a prominently tapered tail, an “all of one piece” blending of the upper and lower portions of the body, and prominent wheels with protective fenders that were separate from the main body yet grafted organically to it.” While that sounds obtuse, it does describe the Mako Shark-II. When the Mako Shark-II was shown to management in April 1965, it was unanimous, the next Vette had to be the shark. Outrageously, they wanted it as a 1967 model.
Bill Mitchell’s personality was as intense as his designs. Mitchell didn’t hold division general managers in high esteem, and he hated engineers trying to be designers. He once told a general manager, “I don’t tell you how to make your car or run your plant. Keep your damn nose out of design.” Bill didn’t like smaller cars and once said, “It’s hard to tailor a dwarf.” Mitchell detested focus groups and committees and said, “You can’t design by committee. You have to say, “This is what I want to do.” On the same topic, he said, “Frank Lloyd Wright did not go around ringing doorbells asking people what kind of houses they wanted.”
Many that worked with Mitchell admired him greatly. Designer Roy Lonberger described bill as, “The most authentic man I ever met. His focus never changed, his design vision was laser clear. He changed designs with complete responsibility to design a car. He delegated responsibility, but never abdicated his own. You always knew where you stood with Mitchell because he told you.” Larry Shinoda got along wonderfully with Bill, but Duntov, now so well. They had a famous blowout when Zora came into Bill’s studio complaining about the Sting Ray’s split window. Incensed that a lowly engineer would demand he change his design, a shouting match ensued. Mitchell called Duntov “Zorro” and Duntov called Mitchell a “red-faced baboon”! Duntov was persona-non-grata in Mitchell’s studio for a long time. Designer Robert Cumberford said, “I liked him because he was enthusiastic about things, but he could be crude and vulgar.” Chuck Jordan, eventual VP of Design said, “He certainly loved women. Bill once told me, “If God made anything better than a woman, he kept it for himself.”
When Mitchell retired in December 1977, GM’s upper management decided that never again would they allow a VP of Design with so much power. Mitchell’s successor, Irv Rybicki was totally unlike Bill – some called him a “Yes Man” claiming that’s why 1980s GM’s cars were so boring. A few years before his death in 1988, Mitchell has this to say about the C4 Corvette, “That square box is pretty near plastic… the instrument panel – Dracula’s dressing room… it rides like a truck… it isn’t a style car, it’s an machine car… engineers are running it. Earl would never let that – I would never let that happen, and I condemn the guys for it!” He also said, “My time is over.” Fast forward to the Tom Peters C6 and C6 design era and I believe Bill Mitchell would approve. – Scott
Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Pt. 1 – Harley Earl, CLICK HERE.
Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Pt. 2 – Ed Cole, CLICK HERE.
Here’s Elvis Presley and the 1959 Stingray Racer from the 1967 movie “Clambake”.
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
Unlike today’s out in the open Corvette Racing Team, in 1956 John Fitch’s factory-supported racing team was strictly a covert-op!
Dateline: 3.24.18 – Photos: GM Archives & Mecum Auctions – In the early days and well into the early 1980s GM and Chevrolet had an odd attitude about Corvette racing. There never was a lack of enthusiasm from Corvette engineers and designers, but the company just wouldn’t make “racing” official, in the same way Ford and Chrysler did for their racing programs, that got them tons of publicity and street cred.
But make no doubt about it, in 1956 there was indeed a factory Corvette racing effort, and it paid off! Four Corvettes were specially prepared for the 12 Hours of Sebring race on March 24, 1956, under the official banner of Dick Doane’s Raceway Enterprises. These were no ordinary production Corvettes. WW-II fighter pilot and racing champion, John Fitch was the team manager and had the full support and assistance of Ed Cole and Zora Arkus-Duntov.
Photos by David Newhardt, courtesy Mecum Auctions.
After a successful performance at Daytona Beach in February 1956where three of Duntov’s specially-prepared Corvettes set speed records on the Daytona beach sand, the three cars were sent back to Michigan to be prepared for the Sebring assault and one more car was added to the team. Continue reading “
Corvette Timeline Tales: March 24, 1956 – Chevrolet Scores First Major Road Racing Win with a Team of Heavily-modified Corvettes – VIDEOS” →
The 1957 Corvette SS Racer’s exotic body turned out to be the hot ticket to failure!
Image: GM Archives
Dateline: 11.16.17 (VIDEO BELOW!) –This was such a heady time! Corvettes were starting to do well in racing and the Fuelie was about to go into production. Chevy general manager Ed Cole gave Duntov the green light to move forward with the XP-64/Corvette SS racer. The XP-64 was a purpose-built, tube-frame racer that was to be the template for Duntov’s 1957 Le Mans assault team of Corvette SS racecars.
Image: K. Scott Teeters – The Corvette SS Racer is owned by the Indy 500 Museum. This photo was taken at Bill Tower’s 2016 “60 Years of Corvette Racing” seminar at the 2016 12 Hours of Sebring event.
“Lightweight” was sports car exotica in those days and the only thing lighter than fiberglass or aluminum was magnesium, so the XP-64 was to have an exotic magnesium body. Continue reading “
Corvette “Timeline Tales” Nov. 16, 1956: One magnesium-bodied XP-64 (Corvette SS) would be built for the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring race” →
The 1962 Monza GT – Corvair-based, Mid-Engine Sports Car – Think Porsche 550/1500 RS Spyder and you’re close!
By the early 1960s the Fuelie Corvette, equipped with Duntov’s “Racer Kit” suspension and brake packages, established itself as a solid, dependable platform for a B/Production or A/Production SCCA racer. Several cars had killer reputations on the track, including; the Nickey Chevrolet-sponsored 1959 “Purple People Eater” driven by Jim Jeffords, Dave MacDonald’s “Don Steves Chevrolet”C1 Corvettes, C1s raced by Dick Thompson and Dick Guldstrand, as well as Grady Davis’ 1961 B/Production and 1962 A/Production “Gulf Oil” Corvettes, and others. Setup right, these cars could be unbeatable. Yet, despite their track success, the European sports car community did not accept the early Corvettes. Why? Because Corvettes were big and heavy, compared to European sports cars. Traditionalists considered Corvettes to be crude, with more in common with a Chevy Bel Air than anything from Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar, Aston Martin and other low-volume European exotics. Corvettes were “mass produced” while European sports cars were “hand-crafted.” This perception did not go unnoticed inside Chevrolet, and some were thinking of a “Plan B” for the Corvette.
The Monza GT and the Monza SS roadster were never intended to be replacements for the Corvette. After all, the basic platform was the rear-engine Corvair. Now before you go, “Puke! Puke!” lets go back to 1957 for a brief look at where the Corvair came from, Chevrolet General Manager, Ed Cole’s aggressive and innovative, “Q-Chevrolet” line of cars. Continue reading “
The History of Mid-Engine Corvettes, 1960 to C8: Part 2″ →
A little known Chevrolet/Corvette milestone, a 1958 Corvette marks the 39 Millionth Chevrolet!
Dateline: 6.26.17 – In the early days of the Corvette’s existence, GM had an odd relationship with the car.Power-players such as Harley Earl, Ed Cole, and Bill Mitchell went to bat for the struggling sports car many times. And then there was the wild Russian engineer with the funny name, Zora Arkus-Duntov that pushed to make the car a successful racecar. But GM is all about sales and Chevy wasn’t selling many Corvettes. By the end of 1957 Chevy sold 14,446 Corvettes in total from 1953. In 1957 alone, Chevrolet sold 254,331 4-door Bel Air Sedans! No, Corvette sales weren’t even a blip on the GM profit margin. So it is peculiar that GM would have chosen a 1958 Corvette to officially be the “39th Million Chevrolet. But bean-counting aside, the Corvette indeed had a special place in GM. No other car was using what was then, a new high-tech composite material Continue reading “
Corvette Timeline Tales: June 26, 1958 – A 1958 Corvette becomes the 39,000,000th Chevrolet built!” →
