7 People Most Responsible for the Corvette Being the Car It Is
1. Harley Earl, the Father of Corvette
Harley Earl (pictured driving above) was a designer at GM until retirement in 1959. He was the first to implement the use of sketching and clay modeling. This design style was used for years after his retirement by most manufacturers. Originally named "Project Opel," the Corvette's design introduced unique styling such as curved windshields, two-tone paint, and tail fins. The American people became interested in the design, and subsequently GM had created their footprint in the international sports car market.
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2. Zora Arkus-Duntov, Corvette's First Chief Engineer
Zora Arkus-Duntov was born in Belgium and raised in Germany. After World War II, he moved to the United States where he was first introduced to the Corvette at the 1952 GM Motorama Show. Zora wrote a letter to GM explaining how improvements to the design were needed. GM met with Zora in 1953 and hired him as Assistant Staff Engineer. Zora's forward thinking contributed to the implementation of the eight cylinder engine and manual transmission into the Corvette.
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3. Myron E. Scott, the Man that Named Corvette
Myron E. Scott started his career as a writer/photographer for the local newspaper. He found several boys with soap box type cars that would fill the void on one of his articles. The race grew and became known as the Soap Box Derby. Chevrolet sponsored the race in 1935, and Scott began his career with the company as Assistant Advertising Manager. During the first year of Corvette production, Chevrolet accepted names and chose Scott's suggestion. He said he got the name from the fast and agile World War II Navy ship.
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4. Carl Renner, Corvette Designer
Although not as popular as the men in the first few slides, Carl Renner had a very influential part during Corvette's early days. He was the designer behind Harley Earls "Project Opel," the codename used during Corvette development. Some believe he was the first to sketch the Corvette, but little documentation exists to verify exactly what his role consisted of.
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5. Bill Mitchell, Corvette's Second Chief Designer
Bill Mitchell's design sketches fell into the hands of Harley Earl as he was building a design team. Earl reached out to Mitchell asking for more of his work. Earl was impressed and, in 1935, Mitchell became the Chief Designer at Cadillac. During his tenure, he helped in the design of the Caprice, Cutlass Supreme, and Grand Prix among others.
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6. David R. McLellan, Corvette's Second Chief Engineer
David R. McLellan began his career at General Motors as a staff engineer under Zora Duntov. In 1975, Zora retired and McLellan took over his role. He attended M.I.T. in 1973 and obtained a Master of Science degree. He helped keep the Corvette near the top of automotive technology with the implementation of tuned port injection, anti-lock brakes, and a six-speed transmission to name a few.
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7. David C. Hill, Corvette's Third Chief Engineer
David C. Hill succeeded Bill Mitchell in 1992 after 27 years of engineering with the company. He's been quoted saying how he wanted to focus his work on the customers' wants while maintaining heritage. Hill received a Masters degree in engineering from The University Of Michigan in 1969 during his time as Senior Project Engineer in the Cadillac engine lab.
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