Auto industry / Sports
Zora Arkus-Duntov
1909–1996 · automotive engineer, Corvette chief engineer
Belgian-born, Russian-raised engineer who came to Detroit in 1953 and turned the Corvette into a genuine performance car.
- Born
Brussels, Belgium- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 86- Birth name
- Zachar Arkus
- Also known as
- Father of the Corvette
- Detroit years
- 1953–1996
- Field
- Auto industry, Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Born in Brussels to Russian parents and raised partly in Russia, Arkus-Duntov studied engineering in Germany, raced cars in Europe and fled to the United States in 1940. After seeing the Corvette show car at the 1953 Motorama in New York, he wrote to Chevrolet; engineer Maurice Olley invited him to Detroit, and he joined GM that year. He helped put the small-block V8 into the Corvette in 1955, drove a pre-production Chevrolet up Pikes Peak and set a Corvette speed record at Daytona in 1956, and brought fuel injection and his high-lift camshaft to the car. He built racing Corvettes such as the SS and the Grand Sport, often against company rules on racing. As Corvette chief engineer he shaped the car until his retirement in 1975, earning the nickname 'Father of the Corvette'. He died in Detroit in 1996; his ashes rest at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky.
Highlights
- Joined GM in 1953 after seeing the Motorama Corvette
- Corvette speed record of 150 mph at Daytona, 1956
- Brought fuel injection to the Corvette in 1957
- Corvette chief engineer until 1975
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1956–1975
General Motors Technical Center
GM's engineering and design campus in Warren, base of Chevrolet engineering during his Corvette years.