[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Rich-Tripower

If it wasn't for Zora A-D the five Grand Sports built would have never seen the light of day. They went through many incarnations, I particularly like the 377 four cammer (that never really saw the light of day either). They were downright dangerous when they got 427 power. One driver said the things would pull the front wheels off the ground in fourth gear if you weren't careful. The metal cage that made up the cage around the passenger compartment only weighed 27 pounds! Driver safety wasn't the most important factor apparently. Surprising no one ever died in a crash in one.

When I left the assembly plant and transferred to engineering, the guy I replaced (Jim M) was retiring and had worked for Duntov at one time.

He said it was fairly typical to be working quietly at your desk, at the GM Tech Center, and then hear some god-awful beast fire up and go "rump-rump"ing out of the building. If you happened be standing in the aisleway he'd run you down. You had to be very careful crossing the straightway on the test track because he could come out of nowhere.

Because Duntov was Belgian born, and of Russian - Jewish descent, he had a pretty thick accent when speaking English. Jim said Duntov would check in on their projects, asking "...how err yu du-ingggg...", to which they would give long, detailed explanations on their plans and progress.

He would dismiss them by saying "...du da best you caannn...".

I often use this same greeting and sendoff with the guys I work with (which, of course, requires that I tell them this story). They seem to get a kick out of it.

K