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Zora Arkus-Duntov’s Personal Corvette Is Being Restored—and You Can See It
For a man bestowed with a title so grand as “Father of the Corvette” it is fascinating that Zora Duntov was only barely a Corvette owner. He did own one, though, and the Corvette that bore his name on the ownership title is currently in the shop at the National Corvette Museum getting the attention it deserves. If you find your way to Kentucky next month, you can see the work being done.
Arkus-Duntov was a gearhead through and through, exemplified by his letter to General Motors executives where he laid out his opinion of how to attract young buyers. The document, titled “Thoughts Pertaining to Youth, Hot Rodders and Chevrolet” was just the first step of many that helped create the Corvette as we know it today. In 1955, Duntov was part of the team to put the then-new small-block V-8 into the Corvette, and in 1957 he was named director of high-performance vehicles at Chevrolet. Yet it took until his retirement in 1975 for a Corvette to actually be his rather just one he happened to be driving for the company.
It makes sense that an executive would not be purchasing a car from their own employer, as it’s likely he would have had access to plenty of Corvettes and other GM cars to drive on a regular basis during his tenure. Faced with losing that perk, however, Arkus-Duntov bought a fully loaded 1974 big-block Stingray. He drove the car regularly for a decade and a half and even had it custom-painted a two-tone blue before selling it in 1989. When Arkus-Duntov passed in 1996, the car was donated to the National Corvette Museum.
Now the Corvette is in the middle of receiving a mix of restoration and preservation work to ensure it will remain in a condition appropriate to honor Arkus-Duntov’s efforts on the Corvette program. According to the museum, restorers have already separated the body and chassis in order to get access to the most needy parts of the project.
The frame was stripped to bare metal before having rust cut out and fresh metal welded in. The whole frame was then sealed with rust preventative coating, before the refreshed front and rear suspension were bolted back on. The 454-cid V-8 was removed and rebuilt and has only recently been reunited with the chassis. From conversation with the museum, it appears that the restoration work is staying under the skin, as the body will be remain the same two-tone blue paint scheme—replete with Arkus-Duntov’s initials lettered on the doors.
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The work is expected to be completed in August, but if you’d like to see the car in progress it will be on display mid-restoration during the annual National Corvette Museum Bash April 24–26.
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Not my favorite Corvette but I am pleased it is being preserved.
I agree with you as wellI too ,I’m happy to see ot being restored.
I am amazed that he had to BUY a Corvette when he retired! What were GM execs thinking!?
Will be nice to se the next time I go to the museum.
I met Zora in 1988 and he pulled up in that car. He was a very nice person. I ended up checking out the car back then and glad they are restoring it
To clarify, it is has a turbo 400 automatic, not a 4 speed manual
Thank you for this. The National Corvette Museum announcement did not include transmission details and my brain filled in what it wanted to read rather than what it saw. Update the story to reflect the facts.
Strange a Gearhead like Duntov did not order a 4 speed instead of an automatic. Guess age may have been a factor. I had 2 of the same year. One was a Smallblock/Auto and the other a Big Block/4 Speed with A/C. Love them all no matter what they have.
Guess your writer can’t tell a Muncie from a THM400. Best combination for cruising Woodward was the 454, THM400 and the tallest gear. Roll on races were fun.
That car was bright metallic pickle green when he got it. A pre production color for the 1975 cars. I remember seeing it at the GM Tech Center in 1974 when I was picking up my girlfriend. Still have my ‘73 Corvette and my ‘74 Carrera. Still miss that Redhead girlfriend.
let it go my friend – you are most likely dollars ahead!
I like the paint. Somebody did a great job. Cool the way they did the big stripes on the hood and the stripe on the top. Curious who painted it.
Being the sports car guy that he was, I’m surprised he had an automatic instead of a stick shift.
You shouldn’t be, even Carroll Shelby’s personal Cobra was an automatic.
I believe Shelby’s Cobra was a manual until age and knee problems caught up to him and he had his shop install an automatic so he could continue to enjoy his wonderful automobile.
When i was a boy my dad owned a 1965 Corvette Stingray Coupe. I have the fondest memories of that car.
I hope that they ditched ALL of the Godawful smog crud off of the 454.
Hi Kevin. As a proper museum, the job would be to conserve the original car, not restore it or impose any so called “improvements”. Cheers
I think a museum would want to restore it to the way that Zora had it. And also there are things that people do/did that was just the way it was. Almost everyone ditched the Ford shifter for a Hurst for 60’s Mustangs. So seeing one in a car, unless it is a trailer queen, is not a problem.
They are not. In the one pic, the older tech is holding a new egr valve, and in the other pic, the egr mounting gasket.
Of course this is a worthy project – but I’m surprised to see professionals moving an engine/tranny around so high on the hoist. Load should never be higher than necessary to clear obstructions!
Some guys are just sticklers for details – excellent eye, Tinkerah! I’m like hyperV6 (above) in that this style of ‘Vette isn’t all that appealing to me – I’m in the 1957-thru-1967 C-1/C-2 camp – but it certainly is a significant car and deserves a prime spot in the Corvette Museum. Zora wasn’t the only guy responsible for America’s premier sport car, but he was definitely the heart, soul and face of the program.
Thanks for the compliment DUB6! But having done plenty of hoisting and rigging, and seen more than one load go over (but never lost one myself) an unnecessarily high load still puts me on alert.
So true, I put 4x4s across the legs from side to side and lower the load as soon as possible
…and it looks like the kid is wearing running shoes… Really?
Is that a kid? Looks pretty adult to me, and the other adult in the photos is also wearing “running shoes.” Some people choose to accept more risk than others and don’t want to tromp around in steel toes all day, let alone this might have been a photoshoot that took place when neither of these guys was actually performing work.
Great addition to the museum for such a towering figure in the Corvette history. I had the 1969 Coupe, L36, M21, .370 rear. No a/c, no power steering or power brakes. AM-FM mono….cheater with a heater and gobs of torque!
Saw a 67 big block at an auction at Atlantic City some twenty five or more years ago. Owner claimed Duntovs personal car & had all the documentation to prove it. Could this be true?
Likely one he drove but didn’t own. If anyone was going to know if Zora owned a Corvette it would be NCM and it is saying this 1974 is the only Corvette Zora owned. Seems like the source to trust.
Glad they didn’t consult hyperv6 and DuB FIRST or this article would not be in here.
LOL….yeah.
hyperv6 must have a Hagerty GM article ‘alert’ on his computer, so that he can always be the 1st to comment.
, but always good insights.
Spider – so, set me straight….we’re not allowed to have a point-of-view, or just not supposed to write it if it doesn’t align with yours?
I’ve had 2 Corvettes, a ’68 white roadster with a removable hardtop, and a ’72 white T-top. I would love to buy another but my old brittle bones won’t allow it.
Kool car, as an GM Canada employee from 1976 to 1982 I had the privilege along with several others from all divisions, of being sent on a special assignment to research the annual stockholders meeting topics in Detroit at head office on Grand Blvd in 1978. We were treated to a tour of the Tech Center where they had a special Corvette to show us. Too bad someone forgot to charge the battery and it would not start! I currently own a 74 Corvette convertible 454 with added factory side pipes and with 3 rare options, keyed alarm in the drivers side front fender, an inside mirror map light and a rear window defogger with a blower motor in a convertible, all factory options. Been thinking of a C8 but there are so many being built 33,000 per year, maybe too much of a good thing.
Buy a C8. Best supercar value for your money. They are making enough to have economies of scale, unlike other comparables. With all due respect, by comparison, your 74 is a quaint little rig suitable mainly for ice-cream runs now!
C3’s are one of the fastest looking cars on the road even today, hands down! Talking about ice-cream runs, my grandson worked at an ice cream shop in a trendy part of town and when I showed up with my C3, got a lot of looks and “free” ice cream to boot. YEA…
Fast looking being the key here. Pretty sure my 3.0TT Macan S with a mild tune, carrying four adults and luggage would smoke a big block C3. In a straight line and on a track. Just sayin’
OK, so you can “smoke” my C3, so what? I did a lot of “smoking rubber” in my BB Chevelle and LOTS of guys saw my rear bumper, but those days are now gone. Today, I just enjoy the ride. Just sayin’
You’re right vetteguy, it’s not all about the speed. I’m 78 years old, have gone fast, burned a lot of rubber, gotten a few tickets along the way. Now I’m happy driving my ’75 convertible C3 to car shows and always turning heads and getting compliments. It’s not fast but it sure is pretty! Really slick lines and more comfortable than my ’65 Coupe was.
You need 2 turbos to do it though…