Zora Arkus-Duntov

Zachary Zora Arkus-Duntov was a Belgian born Russian and American engineer whose work developing the Chevrolet Corvette into a genuine high performance sports car earned him the nickname father of the Corvette, though the car itself was originally conceived by designer Harley Earl. Arkus-Duntov joined Chevrolet in the 1950s and pushed to give the Corvette a small block V8 engine, improved suspension and other performance upgrades that transformed it from a styling exercise into a credible sports car. He also designed the Corvette Grand Sport racing variant. Before his American automotive career he was an accomplished racing driver, competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times and winning his class in 1954 and 1955 driving for Porsche. He was born in Brussels in 1909 and died in Michigan in 1996.