It sounded strange hearing Claire-Bear (Claire Bennet’s character played by Hayden Panettiere) in the sci-fi television show, Heroes, call her biological parents “my bio-parents.” To Claire, her real mom and dad were her adoptive parents, and it didn't matter very much that the other ones were her biological parents.
Similarly, Zora Arkus-Duntov, the man recognized as the godfather of the Chevrolet Corvette neither founded nor “birth” what is today the world’s longest-running, continuously produced passenger car and one of the most popular muscle cars in America and elsewhere. The Corvette’s “bio-parents” are verifiably Thomas “Tom” Keating and Harley Jarvis Earl. Tom was a former group executive vice president and director of General Motors passenger car division while Harley was GM head designer and later vice president, the first top executive to head the design of a major corporation in American history.
Be as it may, the National Corvette Museum asserts Harley Earl as the father of the Corvette, putting it on record that “the Corvette was his (Earl’s) idea pure and simple.” But when Mr. Arkus-Duntov, a Russian engineer and race car driver, died in April 1996, aged 86, the New York Times described him as the man “who turned the Chevrolet Corvette into one of the most popular muscle cars in the United States.” Here's the story.
Who Is Zora Arkus-Duntov?
He was born in Brussels, Belgium, as Zachary Arkus to Yakov “Jacques” Arkus and Rachel Kogan. His birthday is December 25, 1909, and he later became a Belgian-American.
He got the nickname “Father of the Corvette” due to his work on the American-made Chevrolet Corvette. But because he didn't pen the original design, he could hardly be the “father” of the Corvette. But hardcore Corvette enthusiasts weren’t about to relegate him to any lesser position, hence, his elevation to the status of “godfather.” The Oxford Dictionary describes a 'godfather' as a man who is influential or pioneering in a movement or organization.
Granted, a blazing success story like the Corvette achieved for the better part of a century is larger than just one man. In fact, the Corvette has “founding fathers,” not just a founding father. But of all the legitimate fathers of the Corvette, none fits the bill of “godfather” to the Corvette better than Zora Arkus-Duntov.
Arkus-Duntov may not have been the bio-parent, but the Corvette may never have lived past 1970 if not for him. But before his life got all that dramatic, the little boy was born to a miner for a dad and a mom who was a medical student, both Russian Jews. His mom married a Russian electrical engineer called Josef Duntov after splitting with his dad upon their return to their hometown of Saint Petersburg (then Petrograd).
Although they all lived together with his biological father, Zora and his little brother Yura adopted their stepdad's last name, and hyphenated it with their surname to make Arkus-Duntov. Zora’s journey to becoming a professional racing driver and appearing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times to take class wins in 1954 and 1955 was a long one, spanning Petrograd to Berlin, France, New York, and England.
The Real Corvette Founders
Zora Arkus-Duntov may have ensured the Corvette’s survival and rise to glory, but Tom Keating and Harley Earl were behind the model’s existence. General Motors would thank both men for Corvette's market leadership and new market share gains. Earl and Keating were a formidable force working together. We could go as far as saying Keating was the second most important figure in the Corvette's existence in the first place.
His reserved, strong-and-silent demeanor immediately betrayed him as one who has, at some point in his life, held the helm at the old GM – before posing beside the newest GM product became the 'it' thing for GM bosses. Type his name in a Google search today, and you'd find it hard to come up with substantial information about the man.
As the Corvette Museum asserts, the Corvette was Earl's brainchild, but old newspaper articles make it clear that Keating was Earl’s right-hand man, providing the support and nurturing necessary to make the baby Corvette live. Theirs is a story for another time, though. Zora saw the Corvette for the first time at the 1953 GM Motorama in New York City, and it was instant love. He knew right then he had to join the Corvette chariot.
How Zora Arkus-Duntov Became The Godfather Of The Chevrolet Corvette
He isn’t called “the Corvette’s Nostradamus” and “the first Corvette Chief Engineer” for no reason. The Corvette that Zora spied at the Motorama looked powerful, but it was only capable of 150 horsepower. Zora worked for a British racing company at the time, but the potential he saw in the Corvette compelled him to apply for a job as a GM engineer.
No sooner was he in the door, he laid out a plan before the top brass to transform the Corvette into a high-performance sports car toting a variety of more powerful engines. Taking up Zora’s proposition resulted in the Corvette's 195-horsepower engine in 1955, 240-hp engine the following model year, and 283-horsepower mill on the 1957 Corvette.
Building on Zora’s legacy meant the Corvette has never looked back until this eight-generation Corvette. As J. Michael Losh, G.M.'s chief financial officer, said in a recent interview, “The Corvette is a legendary car, and in many ways, Zora was the legend behind the legend.”
Zora Arkus-Duntov’s work and legacy on the Corvette can take up this entire article and some more. It isn't an exaggeration that the man was a chief engineer of an American car without a peer. He was 43 years old in 1953 when GM hired him to work on the Corvette. As it turned out, GM was lucky to have a European-trained engineer of Jewish origins. The fuel injection system we know today was Zora Arkus-Duntov’s idea. He suggested it for the 1957 Corvette. Today, fuel injection is the standard system for mass-production vehicles.
The man is also to thank for the first four-wheel disk brakes on a mass-produced American car. His engineering legacies outlived his retirement from GM in 1975. Arkus-Duntov’s work on the Corvette transformed the crawling-sell (no offense to Earl and Keating) two-seater into a status symbol for Americans with a need for speed. Speed was gas, but the gas guzzler could shift 53,807 units in 1979 alone. It's a good thing that Duntov was still alive when the Corvette sold its millionth car in 1992.