Zora Arkus-Duntov holds a special place among the giants of hot rodding history. It was his famous memo about the burgeoning hot rod culture that spurred General Motors on to pay attention to those crazy kids terrorizing the streets. He was also largely responsible for taking the Corvette from an underpowered, unrefined sporty car to a legit super car that was (and still is) capable of running with the world’s best. One important piece of that history was the 1959 Corvette SS, a race car built in just five months that was the first vehicle to ever lap the famous Sebring course in Florida. This video shows its build in amazing detail, especially for the late 1950s!
In just about every shot of the car being built, there are 4-5 engineers, designers, fabricators, or passers-by wrenching on the car. This was a true thrash. The car ran at Sebring, but suffered a rear suspension failure that prevented a finish of any note. Duntov’s major success was just getting the car built and onto the race track. This meanie managed 155 mph on the straight at Sebring.
Seeing Duntov in action during his prime is really something.
