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Volvo: Safety Beyond the Star RatingsThe Father of the Corvette: Zora Arkus-Duntov
Zora Arkus-Duntov, dubbed the “Father of the Corvette”, transformed the early Corvette from beauty queen to performance legend.
Father of the Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette was originally the brainchild of legendary designer Harley Earl, along with help from GM engineers Edward Cole and Robert McLean. And yet it is another GM engineer, Zora Arkus-Duntov who has gone down in automotive history as the “Father of the Corvette.” Why? Because though Earl gave the C1 its good looks, it was Arkus-Duntov who transformed the Corvette into the performance car legend that survives to this day. Indeed, without Arkus-Duntov’s commitment to racing and the performance that he infused into the Corvette, it is unlikely the car would have survived beyond a second generation.
Youth
Zora Arkus was born in Brussels, Belgium December 25th, 1909, to Russian-Jewish parents. Zora grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia (then known as Petrograd). When his parents divorced, Zora’s mother re-married one Joseph Duntov, an electrical engineer. Due to the rough economic times in Russia, Zora’s father, Yakov Arkus, continued to live with the family. Duntov was a committed stepfather who proved a major influence on young Zora. In a show of admiration for both their fathers Zora and his younger brother Yura adopted the hyphenated last name Arkus-Duntov.
In 1927, the family moved from Russia to Berlin, Germany. Zora had shown an interest in racing early on, with a special affinity for motorcycles. He attended Charlottenburg Technical University, attaining an engineering degree in 1934. That same year he met a young dancer, Elfriede Wolff whom he would marry in 1939.
With the outbreak of WWII, Arkus-Duntov and his family moved from Berlin to Paris, France. The brothers joined the French Air-Force but France’s swift fall to the Nazis had the family on the move again, this time to the United States.
Ardun and Allard
Once established in the US, Zora and his brother founded Ardun Mechanical Corporation (the name “Ardun” combining their two last names) which built munitions and aircraft components for the war effort. Following WWII, Zora worked on designing the Ardun cylinder head for use in Ford flathead V8s. It was also during this time that Zora made his first significant attempts at professional racing, attempting and failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in both 1947 and ’48.
Zora’s work on the Ardun cylinder head did not go unnoticed and he was hired by Sydney Allard to work on Allard J2 racecar, which just happened to run a flathead Ford V8 with Ardun heads. This, of course, meant yet another move, back across the Atlantic to England. Zora ended up as Allard’s co-driver for their 24 Hours of Le Mans runs in 1952 and 1953.
V8 Corvette
A major pivot in Arkus-Duntov’s career came in 1953. While attending GM’s Motorama event in New York City, Zora encountered the prototype of Chevrolet’s new sports car, the Corvette. Arkus-Duntov was instantly enthralled with the car’s design but equally disappointed to discover the fast-looking car had only been given a weak six-cylinder and a two-speed automatic transmission.
The Corvette inspired Arkus-Duntov to apply to GM for a job, which he succeeded in getting. Not long after, Arkus-Duntov submitted a memo to GM exec Ed Cole, “Thoughts Pertaining to Youth, Hot Rodders and Chevrolet,” outlining his ideas on catering to young car buyers by focusing on performance, which included making the Corvette a faster car.
Due to the Corvette’s lackluster sales numbers and Arkus-Duntov’s advocacy, the Corvette was given a small-block V8 starting with the 1955 model and fuel-injection starting with the 1957 model.
Le Mans, Pike Peak, and Other Races
Despite his job at GM, Arkus-Duntov had not given up his racing aspirations. Following his work with and driving for Allard, Arkus-Duntov was hired by Porsche to drive in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Zora succeeded in achieving class victories for Team Porsche in 1954 and ’55 behind the wheel of a 550 Spyder.
Arkus-Duntov continued to indulge his interest in racing with a run at the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb in 1956 to promote GM’s new V8 engine for competition. Behind the wheel of a ’56 V8 Bel-Air, Zora achieved the winning time of 17:24.05. That same year, Arkus-Duntov attended Daytona Speedweek, this time to promote the V8 Corvette with the hopes of hitting 150 mph. Not only did Zora reach the target speed, he won the Modified Sports Car division in the process.
C2 Corvette Stingray and Variants
Arkus-Duntov was promoted to Director of High Performance at GM in 1957 and development on the next-generation Corvette was well underway. The new Corvette was a major departure from the prior generation with a long hood and short rear deck, presaging the muscle cars to come less than a decade later, and sleeker design. This was also the first time the Corvette was subjected to wind tunnel testing to improve aerodynamics.
One new feature that was not to Arkus-Duntov’s liking was the C2’s split rare window. Bill Mitchell’s design was reminiscent of 1930s Bugattis, but at the cost of limiting rearward visibility. In the end, Arkus-Duntov won out as the split window design was jettisoned following the Sting Ray’s initial 1963 model year (making split-window Corvettes highly collectable today).
Also for that first year of the C2 Corvette was the Z06 performance package. Conceived by Arkus-Duntov and his team of engineers, the Z06 package was intended to give racing teams desirable upgrades straight from the factory. These included a limited-split differential, upgraded suspension, fuel-injection, a front sway bar, a four-speed manual transmission, and an extra-large 36.5-gallon fuel tank. Just 199 C2 Z06s were built prior to cancellation in 1964. Thankfully, many of the Z06’s key features became options.
Arkus-Duntov continued to work on improving the C2 Corvette with racing and performance variants and new features. Four-wheel disc brakes arrived in 1965. New 427 cu-in V8s were also added, notably including the L88 aluminum block. The Grand Sport, of which just five were built, was a racing variant that ran an all-aluminum 377 small-block V8 and sported fibber-glass body panels and hood gills.
Shifting the Corvette’s design to mid-engine had long been a dream of Arkus-Duntov and included early prototypes like the CERV I open-wheel concept. It was, however, the gorgeous XP-880 Astro II concept that came closest in 1968. But even great looks failed to convince GM’s top brass of the business case for a mid-engine Corvette. It took another five decades before Arkus-Duntov’s idea finally came to fruition with the mid-engine C8 Corvette.
Retirement and Legacy
Zora Arkus-Duntov retired from GM in 1974. He remained a fixture in the Corvette world, even driving a bulldozer at the ground-breaking for the National Corvette Museum. He was inducted into the Corvette, Automotive, SEMA, and Drag Racing Halls of Fame. Arkus-Duntov passed away in 1996.
Arkus-Duntov’s contributions to the Corvette are unmatched. Indeed, without his push for a V8, the car might not have made a second generation, and that C2 Corvette would not have evolved the car from beauty queen into track monster and race winner.
Thank U for this GREAT Aticle!! I used to think that I knew all about the greatest car ever built- the CORVETTE!! U supplied us with alot of facts about the development of this car that I am glad to have learned from reading this article. I have loved Corvettes since I was a real youngster. Remember where I was standing in Nov. 1962 when someone pulled up in a 63- 250 hp Auto beige coupe. I will watch for your future car articles and hope that they are loaded with informative points like this article included!!
Our corvette club was formed in 1992 and we were lucky enough to have Zora as an honorary member till his passing. Zora & Larry Shinoda signed my performance verification at Cypress Gardens on my 69 Corvette.
Great article, thank you Chris!