The Project Opel - how the Corvette project was code-named originally - had it's beginning in a small studio with only a handful of people working on it. Harley Earle - the first design chief of GM - dreamed up what would become an American icon and the strongest competitor in the sports car market, which was dominated by the European manufacturers at that point.

The Corvette debuted in January of 1953 at the GM Motorama, held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. At this very show, a widely unknown European engineer and race car driver by the name of Zora Arkus-Duntov would see the first prototype of the car which would define his further life and career and which he would transform into the American race car par excellence.

When Zora Arkus-Duntov first saw the EX-122 - how the prototype was named at the GM Motorama- he realised the potential of design and became determined to become part of the further development. Having a solid background as an engineer with Talbot, Allard and Ilo, as well a having raced Porsche, Cisitalia, Veritas, Talbot, Ardun, and Allard, he was delighted by the elegance and understatement of the body, but found the weak six-cylinder engine and the two-speed automatic transmission far from being a match or a threat for the European models. After plenty of effort on his part to convince GM that he would be valuable to the project, he started his new job in Detroit on May 1st, 1953.

His first assignment was to increase the output of the small block 265 cubic inches V8 engine. Even so an eight-cylinder engine and three-speed manual transmission were available since the '55 model year, the Corvette could still not compete with the imports. The Arkus-Duntov camshaft would do the trick - boosting the output from 195 to 240 on the '56 model. Later that year, he did the Daytona Flying Mile at 150.583 mph behind the wheel of an 'improved' Corvette. Next, he worked on developing a suitable fuel injection system to increase the horsepower even more. The Fuely debuted in the '57 model as an American automobile industry first.

In 1963 - again under Zora Arkus-Duntov influence - the Grand Sport program was launched. The objective was to develop an 1,800 pounds lightweight Corvette to compete on the international circuits. Already since 1956, divers like Betty Skelton, John Fitch, Roger Penske and Zora Arkus-Duntov himself took the Corvette racing - with remarkable success. The Grand Sport were meant to compete with Carroll Shelby's lightweight Cobras at a time when manufacturers were discouraged by the AMA to participate in racing. Officially, these developments were labeled research or testing - pausing for just one or two years would haven given all other manufacturers - especially the Europeans - an unreachable lead. The actual racing was then done by the customers - like Dr. Dick Thompson.

The two Corvette Grand Sport debuted at the Nassau Speed Week, where the finished fourth - with Dr. Dick Thompson - and eight - with John Cannon.