Zora Arkus-Duntov
| Zora Arkus-Duntov | |
|---|---|
"Father of the Corvette"
|
|
| Born |
Zachary Arkus December 25, 1909 Belgium |
| Died | April 21, 1996 (aged 86) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Spouse(s) | Elfi Arkus-Duntov |
Zora Arkus-Duntov (December 25, 1909 – April 21, 1996) was a Belgian-born 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, although that title belongs to Harley Earl.
Duntov was born Zachary Arkus in Belgium on December 25, 1909. His parents were both Russian-born Jews; his father was a mining engineer and his mother was a medical student in Brussels. After the family returned to their hometown of Leningrad, Duntov's parents divorced. His mother's new partner, Josef Duntov, another mining engineer, had moved into the household. Even after the divorce, Duntov's father continued to live with the family, and out of respect for both men, he and brother Yura took on the last name of Arkus-Duntov.
In 1927, his family moved to Berlin. While his early boyhood ambition was to become a streetcar driver, streetcars later gave way to motorcycles and automobiles. His first motorized vehicle was a 350 cc motorcycle, which he rode at nearby racetracks as well as through the streets of Berlin. When his parents, fearing for his safety, insisted he trade the cycle in for an automobile, Duntov bought a racecar. The car was a cycle fendered contraption called a "Bob", from a short-lived manufacturer of the same name. The Bob was set up for oval track racing. It had no front brakes and weak rear brakes. In 1934, Duntov graduated from the Charlottenburg Technological University (known today as the Technical University of Berlin). He also began writing engineering papers in the German motor publication Auto Motor und Sport. Later in Paris, he would meet Elfi Wolff, a German native who danced with the Folies Bergère.
When World War II began in 1939, Zora and Elfi were married, just as Duntov and his brother joined the French Air Force. When France surrendered, Duntov obtained exit visas from the Spanish consulate in Marseilles, not only for Elfi and himself, but for his brother and parents as well. Elfi, who was still living in Paris at the time, made a dramatic dash to Bordeaux in her MG just ahead of the advancing Nazi troops. In the meantime, Duntov and Yura hid in a bordello. Five days later, Elfi met up with Duntov and his family and later they boarded a ship in Portugal bound for New York.
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