The Corvette’s godfather was already an experienced racecar driver and development engineer before he ever touched a Corvette.
Best known for his Corvette career at GM, Zora Arkus-Duntov actually was a sports car development engineer for Allard in the UK and raced at Le Mans prior to coming to Motown. The first Corvette he influenced was the 1956 model and his work, resulting in four-speed, fuel-injected Corvettes and later big-block models starting in 1957, is legendary. His last ride for Allard in the 24-hour Le Mans enduro was in a ’53 Allard, above. JR. Duntov, right, with Joel Rosen at the Baldwin-Motion display, 1968 NY Auto Show.
One of seven JRs built as lightweight roadsters on 100-inch wheelbase tube chassis from street models, it sports front and rear independent suspensions and a 331-inch, dual-quad Cadillac as used in Allard’s iconic J2X. This restored green JR is one of the Le Mans Allards driven by Zora Arus-Duntov Duntov and will be featured at the RM Auction in Phoenix, AZ next month.
For the story on this JR and more photos, check out Daniel Strohl’s feature, http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/12/28/zora-arkus-duntovs-allard-jr-heads-to-auction/?refer=news
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