While Cole was one of the top engineers of his day, he did not start out wanting to be in the car business. When he first started attending Grand Rapids Community College as a lad, he wanted to become a lawyer! But a part-time job in an auto parts supply store hooked him into cars. He enrolled in General Motors Institute and got his engineering degree and a job at GM. Cole and Harry Barr co-headed a team to design and develop the revolutionary 1949 Cadillac V8 engine. It was the Cadillac engine project that set Cole up to be the lead man on the Chevrolet small-block engine project. Just stop and reflect on what an enormous contribution to Chevrolets and racing the all-time classic Small-Block Chevy engine is. Read More
Search Results for: Q-Corvette
Vette Shows: The Sights of C2 Corvettes at the 2011 30th Corvettes at Carlisle Show
Yesterday we showed you some of the C3 Shark Corvettes from the 2011 Corvettes at Carlisle Show. We attended on friday and it was a good thing because I read on keith Cornett’s CorvetteBlogger.com that overcast skies on Saturday have vendors packing by noon time. Hurricanes seldom blow up the east coast the way that Irene did, what’a shame it had to be that weekend.
While the 1965 Mako Shark II show car was a total game-changer for Corvette styling, back then no one was saying, “Gee, don’t you think the Sting Ray is looking a little tired?” NEVER HAPPENED. I’ve often wondered what the Corvette would look like today had the shark styling had not happened and the Sting Ray design was allowed to develop and mature, the same way the 911 Porsche did over the years. Today’s 911 Porsche still has the basic look from when the car first arrived as a 1965 model. Read More
Corvette Wheels Pt 3 of 3 – 1997 to 2009
‘09 ZR1 Corvette is a car that will have Corvette historians taking for years. Corvette Chief Engineer, Tadge Juechter and his crew have served up the ultimate production Corvette that is a first-class example of how racing improves the breed. Read More
Was 1962 the “Best” of the C1 Corvettes?
No matter how well received a performance car is, the day will come when the decision is made, “Let’s build a new version!” For the first generation Corvette, that day arrived in late 1959. Two years before, Ed Cole was driving his Q-Chevrolet project that would have put a transaxle in every Chevrolet car, including the Corvette, by 1960. Read More
427 ZL-1 John Greenwood & A NHRA Top Fuel Record Holder Chevy Top Fueler!
But when Zora and his team unleashed the all-aluminum ZL-1, jaws dropped and eyes popped! The thought of a solid-lifter, 12.5:1 compression, big carb 427 that weighed as much as a small-block was just OUT’A SIGHT! FAR-OUT! GROOVY, MAN! Read More
Today’s C7 Corvette Concept Cars – Revving You Up, or Stalling You Out?
Today’s C7 Corvette Concept Cars – Revving You Up, or Stalling You Out? I want to address the issue as a Corvette enthusiast and an artist with a car designer’s heart, of some of the C7 Corvette concept cars we’ve seen so far. I’m going to give my critique of just the shapes. I’ll tell you what I like and why, what I don’t like, and why. I think the recent magazine articles for these cars are just a lot of PR speculation – some red meat for the fans. But I’m most interested in what YOU think of the styling of these cars. So let’s read what I think and then you send me your opinion at the end in the comments section, Okay? Read More
Five Key Corvette Players
Five Key Players That Forged the Corvette. I figured out long ago that were it not for Duntov, the Corvette would have been tossed into the trash heap of failed cars like the Corvair and Vega. As I look back into the Corvette’s early days, I see five key players in which the absence of any one of the five, would have doomed the car. Here are my pick for the five key players that forged the Corvette. Harley Earl, Ed Cole, Zora Arkus-Duntov, Bill Mitchell, Larry Shinoda Read More
Interview
Interview With Automotive Artist and Writer, K. Scott Teeters Many of you know K. Scott Teeters as the renowned automotive artist who has written and illustrated for car magazines for over thirty years. He is… Read More
