Corvette Museum in Bowling Green -- mbryson trip in May 2023

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Just a picture dump from Bowling Green. Had the opportunity for a trip to the Buick GS Nationals recently. Took the opportunity to spend a couple hours walking the Corvette museum for $18.

It was cool to walk through the museum and see the progression of the Corvette story. I'm not a fan of the mid-engine cars looks at all but I'm sure the performance is impressive. One of the more impressive things I saw was you can buy your Corvette and pick it up at the museum. $995 per the rep at the museum. They show you through EVERY option on your car and train you to use it. You get a plant tour along with other museum things.


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Delivery area
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1953 Corvette

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1978

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1953 in the diorama


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1954 unit
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Roy Orbison's '67


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'63 Split window
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
Corvettes are cool and all, but I do find it humorous and telling that 90% of the people you can see in those pictures are retirement age. :D

The best Corvette stylistically is still the C3, probably because its was designed by the same guy who did the Opel GT.

The C8 is a revolution, though. Glad that GM finally pulled the trigger on a mid-engine 'Vette after toying with the idea of one for 50-years.
 

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
The real reason I went to Bowling Green is to see these types of things... This car was in the parking lot at the museum when I was there. There was a NICE GN (probably didn't get a picture?) along with my rental Camaro.

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This pic is back at Beach Bend Raceway. I happened to park the rental Camaro across from two of the 678 1970 Buick GSX cars. I think there were 188 white (Apollo white -- code 10-10 ) and the balance were all the yellow (Saturn Yellow -- code QQ)

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mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Corvettes are cool and all, but I do find it humorous and telling that 90% of the people you can see in those pictures are retirement age. :D

The best Corvette stylistically is still the C3, probably because its was designed by the same guy who did the Opel GT.

The C8 is a revolution, though. Glad that GM finally pulled the trigger on a mid-engine 'Vette after toying with the idea of one for 50-years.


I'm a C2 and C3 fan personally. C4 are good bang for the buck for sure and are better cars than you'd expect. I did find it humorous that I AM the target market for a late model Corvette and I DO NOT care for the mid-engine car at all. Between the red Camaro and the current Corvette (and Chev trucks), I have no idea how Chevrolet is making any money at all. Their "styling" is not my favorite at all. (kind of not been a fan since the truck redesign in '88 or the 4th Gen Camaro) They are still selling cars so someone must like them? The C7 (the last front engine unit) is kind of "OK" to me. I'm sure the performance is off the charts for me but the styling is "OK". A guy my age is buying the Corvette to relive his youth? I am not one of those I guess.

Duntov did the Opel? (he also had a strong hand in the '71-73 Riviera cars for that matter)
 

Gravy

Ant Anstead of Dirtbikes
Supporting Member
I went to that museum a few years back. They have a great play area for the kids and the Cafe had a 1950 vibe and the burgers were pretty good too. I LOVED the NASA Corvettes (the ones they gave to the astronauts) and the factory v10 machine too.
 

Stephen

Who Dares Wins
Moderator
I'm a C2 and C3 fan personally. C4 are good bang for the buck for sure and are better cars than you'd expect. I did find it humorous that I AM the target market for a late model Corvette and I DO NOT care for the mid-engine car at all. Between the red Camaro and the current Corvette (and Chev trucks), I have no idea how Chevrolet is making any money at all. Their "styling" is not my favorite at all. (kind of not been a fan since the truck redesign in '88 or the 4th Gen Camaro) They are still selling cars so someone must like them? The C7 (the last front engine unit) is kind of "OK" to me. I'm sure the performance is off the charts for me but the styling is "OK". A guy my age is buying the Corvette to relive his youth? I am not one of those I guess.

Duntov did the Opel? (he also had a strong hand in the '71-73 Riviera cars for that matter)
Not sure who the final designer was on the GT, but you can draw a direct line from the XP-797 and Monza GT design experiments in the mid-60's to the C3 and the Opel GT. The Opel being the better looking and more refined of the two, of course. ;)
 

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Not sure who the final designer was on the GT, but you can draw a direct line from the XP-797 and Monza GT design experiments in the mid-60's to the C3 and the Opel GT. The Opel being the better looking and more refined of the two, of course. ;)

Per what I read in the museum, I believe the early Corvette project was NAMED Opel? Maybe that's what you're thinking of?


Development of the Corvette began in late 1951 as "Project Opel" and was the brainchild of famed General Motors designer Harley Earl.


Interesting perspective from Hagerty...

The Corvette had a mini-me twin​

GM’s German subsidiary, Adam Opel, AG (better known simply as Opel), was suffering with a particularly staid image in the 1960s. Bob Lutz sent stylist Clare MacKichan to Opel spark a little creativity.

Not coincidentally, MacKichan was a Corvette guy and Opel’s little sports car, the 1.9-liter Opel GT, came out looking for all the world like a two-thirds size 1968 Corvette. They’re rare today, but the reaction an Opel GT inspires when parked next to a 1968–72 Corvette is priceless.



Duntov info:


The Story of Zora Arkus-Duntov, the Bad-Ass Who Made the Corvette an Icon​

BY DON SHERMANPUBLISHED: OCT 31, 2014
zora arkus duntov with 1966 corvette

HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS
Hard-core Corvette fans know Zora Arkus-Duntov and the contributions he bestowed over his two-plus decades at General Motors. Anticipating the arrival of the next-generation C8 Corvette adorned with a ZORA nameplate, we provide this celebration of the life and times of America’s answer to Enzo Ferrari and Ferdinand Porsche.
zora arkusduntov at drafting table

HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS

MORE ON THE CORVETTE​

Arkus-Duntov was born in 1909 to wealthy Russian parents studying in Brussels, Belgium. The following year, the Arkus family returned to Saint Petersburg in time to suffer through both World War I and the Russian Revolution. Young Zora, who was mesmerized by anything capable of moving under its own power, showed little interest in school. When the harsh times brought bread rationing, he armed himself with a revolver to safeguard the family’s food supply. A firearm also came in handy when a crosstown doctor had to be persuaded to come and care for his ailing mother.
Due to the severe economic conditions, Zora’s father Jacques Arkus stayed in the household following divorce and the arrival of stepfather Josef Duntov. Years later, in 1941, Zora finally had sufficient respect for his third parent to change his last name to Arkus-Duntov.
Inspired by Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz grand prix efforts in the 1930s, Arkus-Duntov dabbled in lower-level road racing before and after studying mechanical engineering at the University of Charlottenburg in Berlin. He met some top drivers and engineers but didn’t advance his dream of competing at higher levels through those connections.
Zora Arkus-Duntov at Le Mans for Allard

ZORA WITH ALLARD AT LE MANS, FOR WHOM HE DROVE IN 1952 AND 1953.
HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS
Watching conditions deteriorate in Germany through the 1930s, especially for those of Jewish descent, Arkus-Duntov and his wife, the former Elfi Wolff, hastily relocated first to Paris and then to America on a freighter converted to passenger service. Both found fortune in their new world—she as a professional dancer, he as a consultant before becoming a war-munitions manufacturer.
Postwar prosperity opened doors to new motorsports opportunities. The “Ardun” overhead-valve cylinder heads Arkus-Duntov manufactured to tune up Ford flathead V-8s were not initially successful, although they eventually became highly prized. After failed Indy 500 attempts, Zora met Sydney Allard, which led to drives at the 1952 and 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mechanical failures doomed both Allard ventures, but Arkus-Duntov’s rising prowess as an engineer and driver gained Porsche’s attention. He was invited to pilot an 1100-cc 550 Spyder for the factory’s visit to the Sarthe, earning a class victory and 14th overall finish in 1954, followed by 13th overall in another 550 Spyder the next year.
Zora Arkus-Duntov at Le Mans in 1960

ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV (FOREGROUND) WITH FRANK BURRELL AND BILL FRICK AT LE MANS IN 1960.
HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS
Amazingly, Arkus-Duntov’s success on the world endurance-racing stage came after he had joined GM as a development engineer. Upon seeing Harley Earl’s Corvette prototype at the 1953 New York Motorama, he was instantly smitten. He unleashed the full brunt of his persuasive powers to convince Chevrolet boss Ed Cole and GM R&D director Maurice Olley that a production Corvette would be a “turning point” for GM and that his contributions could be instrumental in advancing any high-performance automobile’s cause.
READ MORE: From the C/D Archives: Our Original 1956 Chevrolet Corvette Road Test
Convincing Cole only a few weeks after joining GM that driving for Allard at Le Mans was in the company’s best interests reveals the depth of Arkus-Duntov’s cunning. Seconding that motion in 1955 became the cornerstone for the Corvette/Porsche respect and rivalry that exists to this day.
Zora Arkus-Duntov at Pike's Peak during testing in 1955

TESTING AT PIKES PEAK IN 1955 TO PROVE THE VITALITY OF THE NEW SMALL-BLOCK V-8; ZORA SET A NEW SEDAN-CLASS RECORD IN THE THEN-SECRET 1956 CHEVY.
HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS
Olley was less convinced that racing relationships with other carmakers were a wise idea. For punishment, he dispatched the Russian to the proving grounds to work on trucks. Cole had other ideas. After reading Arkus-Duntov’s memo pointing out how the hot-rod movement might help Chevrolet reach younger buyers, he gave his rabble rouser a challenging project: developing the fuel injection scheduled for introduction on the 1957 model year Chevrolet V-8. Building on existing Mercedes-Benz 300SL technology, Arkus-Duntov devised a means of measuring the mass of incoming airflow instead of using the SL’s simpler speed-density approach.
Unfortunately, Corvette sales were faltering and GM was pondering the early retirement of its sports car. Arkus-Duntov stepped in at the last moment to save the Corvette and to recast it as Chevrolet’s halo vehicle. His views won broad internal respect and the job of evolving the Corvette from a fashionable, gutless two-seater into a world-class sports car.
His new authority only encouraged Arkus-Duntov’s speed exploits. He broke a couple of Pikes Peak records in a disguised Chevy sedan, and he topped 150 mph in a slightly modified Corvette at Daytona Beach in 1956. That success set the stage for a long run of experimental projects, which fed yearly performance improvements to production Corvettes.
1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Race Car piloted by Zora Arkus-Duntov

1957 CHEVROLET CORVETTE SS RACE CAR WITH ZORA BEHIND THE WHEEL.
HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS
The 1957 Corvette SS originated a badge that Chevrolet still uses today. This purpose-built sports racer taught Arkus-Duntov an important lesson when it failed after only 23 laps at the 12 Hours of Sebring: that the best way to avoid cooking the driver is to mount the engine behind the cockpit. He earned his first real title at General Motors—Chevrolet’s director of high performance—later that year.
Taking that job seriously, Arkus-Duntov and his team created five mid-engine experimental cars to explore independent suspension designs, all-wheel drive, large-displacement V-8s, rotary engines, and aluminum body construction. He earned a patent for a new 4WD arrangement and nearly won approval to move the Corvette’s transmission rearward circa 1960.
Zora Arkus-Duntov with 1960 Chevrolet CERV I show car

WITH THE 1960 CERV I SHOW CAR.
HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS
Arkus-Duntov had to be an astute politician to rebuff internal forces that persistently drove Corvette in fruitless directions. R&D boss Frank Winchell constructed one prototype with a V-8 hanging out the back. Ed Cole and John DeLorean both suggested two-plus-two Corvettes. The magnificent split-window coupe, which Bill Mitchell’s design department created for the 1963 model year, was despised by Arkus-Duntov because of its impaired rear visibility and prodigious aerodynamic lift. He got rid of the glass partition after only one model year but never fully resolved the midyear (1963–67) Corvette’s poor aero performance.
Arkus-Duntov did score major wins with engineering advancements such as stiffer frames, independent rear suspension, and disc brakes. Power and performance climbed thanks to fuel injection, multiple carburetors, large V-8s, and tougher four-speed transmissions. The second-generation Corvettes he masterminded not only sold well, they earned GM profits.
READ MORE: 1971 Corvettes: C/D and Zora Arkus-Duntov Compare the Entire Range
These accomplishments came in spite of modest engineering resources thanks to Arkus-Duntov’s ability to inspire his small team. According to Corvette development engineer Roy Sjoberg, who later became the Dodge Viper’s chief engineer, “Zora got your emotions involved and when that occurred, your commitment followed ad infinitum.” Years later, Ed Cole noted, “Zora managed to bootleg more things through Chevrolet than any other engineer I’ve ever known.” To throw him a bone, GM finally gave Arkus-Duntov the Corvette chief engineer title in 1967.
Zora Arkus-Duntov and Patrick Bedard with 1971 Corvettes

ZORA AND OUR OWN PATRICK BEDARD SURVEYING 1971 CORVETTES
HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS
The midyear Corvette chassis was such a stride forward that it supported the C3 generation for another 15 model years under Mitchell’s mako shark–inspired bodywork. That was not Arkus-Duntov’s intention. The mid-engine layout he longed for never reached fruition during his career for a host of reasons. Detractors insisted that Corvette fans didn’t want it and wouldn’t understand it. Sales were strong with the technology in hand. Engineering costs were also an issue; a new transaxle just for Corvettes would be expensive. When Arkus-Duntov reached the age of mandatory retirement in 1975, the glimmer of Chevy’s halo faded until a reengineered C4 finally arrived for the 1984 model year.
Departure from GM didn’t end Arkus-Duntov’s sensitivity to any harsh word spoken against Corvettes. Following a column I wrote in 1979, which characterized that car’s rear suspension as “ill-conceived,” he sued Car and Driver for defamation of character. The fact that his name wasn’t mentioned in the article and that his Corvette responsibilities had ended four years earlier made no difference in Arkus-Duntov’s mind. The suit was eventually dismissed.
Zora Arkus-Duntov and Patrick Bedard

ZORA WITH BEDARD IN 1977.
HUMPHREY SUTTON, FACEBOOK/ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV, AND GENERAL MOTORS
Arkus-Duntov’s use of cigarettes as a fashion accessory eventually caught up with him. After surviving prostate surgery in 1967 and a stroke in 1969, he contracted lung cancer in 1995, even though he had given up smoking years earlier. He died in 1996.
The legacy of the man who championed Corvettes in general and a mid-engine version in particular will live forever when C8s hit the road with a ZORA—or ZoRa1—badge prominently displayed.
Many details in this story were sourced from author Jerry Burton’s insightful Zora Arkus-Duntov: The Legend Behind Corvette, by Bentley Publishers, from which we excerpted in 2002
 
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