Thanks Alan. Yes, the car is a test mule, and it's not pretty. It was beat up, crudely modified and cast aside. It was only through coincidence that it was preserved. But it's place in the history of General Motors is considerable. It's appraised at more than $1 million today.
Paul via phone > On Nov 22, 2016, at 11:45 PM, Alan C <c...@lantic.net> wrote: > > An interesting story & gallery but the car itself is hideous. > > Alan C > > -----Original Message----- From: Paul Stenquist > Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 12:45 AM > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: PESO: The Duntov Mule > > Zora Arkus Duntov escaped Hitler and advancing Nazi troops in 1940 by hiding > in a Paris bordello. He somehow obtained Spanish visas and escaped to the > U.S. on a Portuguese ship. He formed the Ardun company in the U.S. and built > overhead-valve hemi-head conversions for Ford flatheads that elevated the > Ford engine to a world-class contender. After seeing the Corvette, which was > powered by GM’s anemic I-6 engine at the NY auto show, he wrote to GM and > told them he could fix it. He did, using one of the many unsold ’54 Vettes to > refine a powertrain. In this car, which was originally available only with > the I6, he clocked 163 mph at GM’s Arizona proving grounds. Under the hood > was a modified version of Chevy’s new V8. Much of the tuning technology that > made the car so potent would be adapted for production within a year or two. > Duntov’s work saved Corvette. > > Today, this car is part of the Lingenfelter Collection in Michigan. > Lingenfelter owns 65 Corvettes, many of them milestones for the brand. I shot > the Duntov Mule just after dawn in the parking lot outside Lingenfelter’s > museum-like garage. Note the minimal windscreen, the tonneau cover over much > of the cockpit, and Jaguaresque tail fin, which was meant to improve high > speed stability. The shoot was for Hagerty publications, and hasn’t appeared > yet, so please don’t pass them along. > > http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=18313232&size=lg > http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=18313231&size=lg > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
