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.
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FAQs
Why does Zora Arkus-Duntov have a hyphenated surname?
He combined his father's surname and the surname of his mother's partner, out of respect for both men.
He was born Zachar Arkus in Brussels. After the family returned to Saint Petersburg, then called Petrograd, his parents divorced and his mother's new partner, the electrical engineer Josef Duntov, moved into the household. His father Jacques kept living with the family as well, and out of respect for both men, Zora and his younger brother Yura took the hyphenated name Arkus-Duntov.
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Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Zora Arkus-Duntov (Wikipedia)
Infobox, Birth
December 25, 1909
Lead paragraph, death date
Zachary "Zora" Arkus-Duntov (born Zachar Arkus; December 25, 1909, April 21, 1996) was a Russian and American engineer
Lead paragraph, nationality
was a Russian and American engineer whose work on the Chevrolet Corvette earned him the nickname "Father of the Corvette."
Lead paragraph, birth name
Zachary "Zora" Arkus-Duntov (born Zachar Arkus
In Group: Automotive Engineers and Designers, Lead sentence
Zachary "Zora" Arkus-Duntov (born Zachar Arkus; December 25, 1909, April 21, 1996) was a Russian and American engineer whose work on the Chevrolet Corvette earned him the nickname "Father of the Corvette." He is sometimes erroneously referred to as the inventor of the Corvette; that title belongs to Harley Earl.
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