Tagged: john delorean

Corvette Timeline Tails: Happy 99th Birthday Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen

Corvette History / Corvette People / Corvette Timeline Tales

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Corvette Timeline Tails: Happy 99th Birthday Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen

Within the machinations of a big corporation, to get things done, it’s good to have an angel. Zora Arkus-Duntov had several angels. We’ve talked about Duntov’s relationship with Chevrolet honcho Ed Cole. But one angle that doesn’t get much attention was Simon “Bunkie” Knudsen.

Simon’s father was former GM president, William S. Knudsen. While this was helpful for the younger Kneudsen’s career, things weren’t handed to Bunkie – he had to work for what he accomplished. Like many teenage boys of his generation, Simon was interested in mechanical things. When he asked for a car, his Dad gave him one… in pieces for the young man to out back together. During his college years, Summer break meant a stint working at Gm… on the assembly line. Upon graduation, Knudsen got a job at Pontiac in 1939 and quickly rose up through the management ranks. By 1956 he was the general manager at Pontiac.

1982 Collector Edition Corvette – The Polished Shark

C3 Corvettes / Corvette History / Special Edition Corvettes

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1982 Collector Edition Corvette – The Polished Shark

For the last three months I’ve been having fun with my VETTE Magazine monthly column, “The Illustrated Corvette Series” looking back at what I believe are the “best” of every generation Corvette. So far, we have looked at the ‘62 Fuelie Corvettes and the ‘67 427/435 L89 Big-Block. This month we’re looking at the last of the C3 Corvettes, the ‘82 Collector Edition Hatchback. While it wasn’t the stump-puller from the late ‘60s and early ‘70, the ‘82 Collector Edition was a very sweet machine. So, let’s get straight to it! – Scott

Corvette Timeline Tales: July 1962 – Production of the “Lightweight” aka Grand Sport Begins

C2 Corvettes / Corvette History / Corvette Timeline Tales / Grand Sport Corvette

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Corvette Timeline Tales: July 1962 – Production of the “Lightweight” aka Grand Sport Begins

By July 1962, with the overall design completed, including an all-aluminum fuel-injected 327 version of the street Corvette Fuelie engine, production began on just enough cars to qualify the Lightweight as a “production” car. The rest of the story is very well known and documented.