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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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It was a very cool car in 1974. I liked the styling then and still do.
Arkus-Dontov the father of the’63 Corvette drove the ‘63 car number 1 produced that was a convertible and my dad purchased the ‘63 number 2 produced that was a split window from Arkus-Dontov best friend Dr. Shaw in around 1969, those 2 were best friends in collage, my dad purchased it for $2700 and sold it for $3200 in ‘71 thinking it was his best investment ever! he owned it for more than 10 and made $500 on it! I have fond memories of car like the day we went 160 MPH just to see if the speedo needle would go up that far, he let off at 160 and it might have gone faster but dad was scared and I was geared, and the day when I was 8 years old piloting it home after the finicky fuel injection stopped working, breaking a hemp rope used to tow it with at least a dozen times when I pushed on the brakes too hard, boy was dad pissed at me, I never helped tow before, I was only 8! Off came the fuel injection, in with a bigger cam, 4 barrel Holley and a aluminum intake.(this information was given to me by my father and one of Arkus-Dontov friends that verified the facts and he used to hang out with him back in the sixties), He might have kept the corvette for my first car but I wanted a hemi ‘cuda! They pulled big wheelies and I was hooked on them!
Years ago, I had a big block 74 that I bought from the US Marshall. It had been a really mean drug pushers car. I kept it a couple years and sold it to a friend. Man that thing was thirsty. I am talking single digits for MPG. It only had 270HP but still had a ton of torque. Somehow I made a connection with the original owner on BaT. He lived in Tyler, Texas and said the drug pusher flagged him down and bought the car. I saw Duntov’s car in the museum a few years ago. Glad they are giving it the attention it deserves.
I first saw Zora’s Corvette southbound on French Rd. north of Conner (Detroit) with Zora in the driver’s seat. I recognized him from my being in the audience at the Rackham Building when he introduced the 1963 Corvette to the SAE.
I subsequently saw the car in the Corvette Museum in 2014.
GODFATHER of the Corvette. NOT Father of the Corvette. The Corvette was not his idea and therefore he can not be it’s father. You need to stop getting your “facts” from Wikipedia. He came into the program after the Corvette was started and basically saved it and made it the sports car it became. I have an original 454 ’72 in Steel Cities Gray. One of the places I get parts is Mid America Motorworks and they have a nice article about Zora.
I was an engineer at the GM plant in Defiance, Ohio at the time Duntov retired. The rumor was that GM gave him a Corvette at retirement. The Corvette was later at a Corvette specialty shop in Toledo for personalization. Painting?
My first was a ’68 Convertible 4 speed.with a removable hard top. My second a ’72 T-top. I currently have a ’76 4 speed & a ’16 Z51 8speed paddle shift. I’m a happy man.
I first met Zora in the late 70’s early 80’s at Bob Schuller’s American Custom Industries near Sylvania Ohio. He was there to meet and greet fan’s as publicity for ACI. He and Elfie both were there. He made a deal with ACI to show up for the weekend in exchange for a paint job on the ’74. Of course, he was his happy self and signed everything that was put in front of him. Elfie was as charming as ever. Saw both of them at a number of shows in the “80s. At the ACI show (God help me he was younger then than I am now) he had been retired for a few years and was in great shape. He and Elfie drove that Vette all over the country as I recall.
The Porsche Macan S 3.0T (with the 3.0L turbocharged V6 engine) has a 0-60 mph time of approximately 4.6 seconds when equipped with the Sport Chrono Package. Without the package, it takes around 4.9 seconds. The 1974 Corvette with the 454 cubic inch (7.4L) LS4 V8 engine had a 0-60 mph time of approximately 6.8 to 7.0 seconds when equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission. If it had the 3-speed automatic, the time could be slightly slower.
You are comparing modern automotive tech with 1970’s tech. If the Macan had a mechanical fuel system and no electronic controls, how would it fare?
I drive a 54 Corvette and am proud to say that Harley Earl was the father of the Corvette while Dubrovnik was the father of Corvette performance!
Who is Dubrovnik?
One of a kind iconic Corvette that must be preserved. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jay Leno makes a bid to add it to his collection!
My wife and I enjoyed my triple black ’59 4 speed 2 top car from 1989 until 2019. Didn’t drive it enough but sure polished it plenty. Even one a few awards. Now I savour the memory when I look at my 2 C1 fuel injected 1/18th models and 2 split window coups. 1 fuel injected C1 signed by Zora after lining up forever, 1 split window signed by Zora and 1 split window signed by Ely, his wife, again after lining up for 2 plus hours at Carlisle in the late ’90’s. She always accompanied him to these wonderful gatherings and sat quietly by his side. While he signed my fuel injected split window I happened to ask his wife if she would be kind enough to sign the other carburated split window model I was holding. Believe it or not, she said, “no one ever asked me to do that before”. I was pleasantly surprised. and enjoy telling the story when I can. Those 4 along with several other 1/18th Vette models occupy my glass curio cabinet. Last thought, oh how I would once again like to be able to enter and exit a CI with some degree of ease. Certainly don’t bend the way I used to. Enjoy all and save the wave.
Apologies to all Vette historians. I think I mis-spelled Zora’s wife’s name. It was difficult to read it and I didn’t double check.
I am an original of a 73 454 THM400 coupe. It spent 27 years in the garage with 83000 miles of daily driving. Once again it’s on the road again. It still gives me more smiles per mile than any other car I’ve owned