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Peering Into The Life Of Zora Arkus-Duntov, The Corvette Mastermind

The name is a familiar one within the Corvette community. Zora Arkus-Duntov, colloquially known as the father of the Corvette, will forever sit as the man credited for morphing the icon into what we know it today. Road & Track had decided to do some digging on the Russian man who would create the ultimate American badass.

In fact, Duntov was a brute force in ensuring the 1953 concept vehicle shown at the New York Motorama made its way to production. Insisting the car would allow Chevrolet to reach a younger audience, the Corvette was born. But it wasn’t until the C2 Corvette Sting Ray when Duntov’s magic would really begin to glimmer.

In all truth, Duntov despised the design and looks, penned by Bill Mitchell, of the C2 Corvette, damning it for poor aerodynamic performance, and detested the split-window design for poor rear visibility. Eventually, the split-window would be canned, but the design stuck, proving to be mighty popular, and earned GM massive profits.

Where Duntov excelled were the bones underpinning that pretty face we know as the C2 Corvette. Duntov is credited with scoring major wins with an independent rear suspension, a stiffer frame and four-wheel disc brakes.

But Duntov pushed harder, and some of his greatest achievements never came to be. The head Corvette engineer, a title bestowed upon him in 1967, pushed hard for a mid-engine design, but ultimately it never made its way into production despite his evidence in performance credentials. GM deduced it would alienate buyers, the C2 and C3 were selling incredibly well, and the investment seemed silly at the time.

Now, 19 years after Duntov’s passing, his legacy has begun to thrive. The media has coined mid-engine Corvette rumors “Zora prototypes,” an effort no doubt to show a long-held dream realized. General Motors has even trademarked the name for land vehicles.

We’re not sure if a mid-engine Corvette will actually wear a “Zora” badge, but it won’t matter. Zora Arkus-Duntov’s handiwork will forever touch America’s sports car icon.

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. The real truth of where Zora exceled was his tenacity to never give up or back down.

    He had to fight not only administration but he also had to buy with Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell two of the most powerful men in Detroit. He won some and lost some but never gave up. Because of this the car survived despite many problems it faced over the year. Wrong engines and transmissions early on were cured with his move to the v8. His reluctance of the C2 aero was proven when the Grand Sports wanted to lift the nose at speed. The Racing Ban he fought through most of the 60’s. The saving of the Cherv 1 and 2 cars as well as all the Grand Sports accept for the one reported to have been burned.

    There is a good book out on him and it tells of a very interesting life. I love how Porsche asked for him to drive for them while he worked at Chevy in the 50’s.

    Racer, engineer, pilot, spy you could make a really good move of his life.

    Reply
    1. What is the name of the book.

      Reply
  2. Great to see a real article on here, not nationalistic fluff that obviously no one cares about because of the lack of comments and hits.

    Thanks for giving us CAR news!

    Reply
  3. When I was a high school student, the GM deslership was on the way to the school. A fellow classmate ran into the classroom, shouting that a new gold-color Corvette just arrived at the GM dealership. A large group of us went out of the school and ran into the showrrom. We saw the arrival of a new 1966 Stingray in gold, and we all were in love!

    I also remember a Motor Trend two-page ad showing the Corvette and the new Camaro side-by-side with the heading. “These two can take on any other sports car in this magazine.” and that was true!

    Reply
  4. Not a bad article, but Zora didn’t push to get the Corvette to production, he didn’t even work for GM at that point. Seeing the Vette displayed at the Waldorf-astoria convinced him to attempt to get an engineering job with them, which he obviously got, but it was in a passenger car division at first.
    Zora is more the godfather of the Corvette, while Harley Earl is the father.

    Reply

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