Chevy Corvette Stingray - The Corvette Diaries

Knudsen's next subsequent mention of the four-passenger Corvette was made after a New Year's Eve party, at which someone asked if Chevy was indeed putting out such a car, and he realized Cole had blabbed. And the vexing thing was, the car wouldn't quite die. When drafting up reasons why he was considering leaving GM, foremost among them was this undated screed, probably from February or March of 1963, "For some time now Mr. Cole has persistently asked me for a four-pass Corvette. Our Sales Dept-our advertising department and myself feel that a four-passenger Corvette will only ruin the Corvette image and not sell any great quantity. I have also asked our largest Corvette dealers, and they do not want a four-passenger Corvette. On arriving in town last weekend, I found in Styling Modeling a four-passenger Corvette. I understand this was Mr. Cole's instructions."

Meantime, having already sized up Tonawanda as a production site, Knudsen set his mind to work on the question of introducing the ultimate powerplant, the Mark IV big-block. Chevy dealers, particularly those from the Southeast, like Hal Smith, had been nagging him about the division's lack of results on the "speed tracks," as Knudsen termed them, and he fretted, "This is going to get hotter and hotter." Additionally, the Cobra's potential was quite evident, and all those racers traipsing into his office had made their desires known. Knudsen felt the necessity of pitching his bosses on producing the Mark IV engine and dropping the corporate ban on racing.

The opportunity came on December 19. Knudsen met with the executive committee of Fred Donner, Jack Gordon, Ed Cole, and at least three others from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. His prepared text covered twenty pages, and he showed around thirty slides. He prophesied that the Cobra "was produced to outperform the Corvette and dilute the Corvette image. We have seen this car in action. It has an acceptable design and there is no doubt that it will outperform our best Corvettes. This car can and probably will have serious long range effects on our Corvette image." In his finale, he called for revisions in GM's support of the American Manufacturers Association's 1957 amendment against involvement in racing, henceforth to exclude the Corvette and "adopting this revised resolution for the benefit of the industry." After all this, Donner said he needed time to think and took home a copy of the speech.

While waiting for an answer, Knudsen flew to St. Louis on December 27. "Went through Corvette and regular plant," he grumped. "Cars not as good as they should be." Eight more days passed before the answer came. Just as Knudsen was going home on Friday, January 4, 1963, his phone rang. It was "J. Gordon giving me the go-ahead on the 427 engine and the agreement to put in AMA specs. Cautioned me about advertising [racing results] but definitely is winking his eye. I know this goes for Donner too-Jack does nothing without Fred's O.K." Knudsen's spirits lifted noticeably. On January 11, Smokey Yunick visited Knudsen. "Went over 427 engine," he wrote cheerily. "He was impressed. Said he'd handle one at Daytona."

Within weeks, the upper echelon would change their minds and bid division managers to stop all racing activities. Cole, acting as the devil on Knudsen's shoulder, intimated that the Corvette was exempted. Knudsen angrily took up his pen, "Cole asked me what I was going to do. I told him get right with Jesus. He asked me about the Corvette spec parts. I told him as soon as I had everything else cleaned up I was going to cancel these." Knudsen fomented some more on the page before concluding about his boss, "He may be a smart engineer but he's sure a dumb corporation man."

Nevertheless, the 427-ci engine managed to show up at Daytona and elsewhere, performing with striking success. It wouldn't be too long before the descendants of these "mystery motors" were available in showroom-ready Corvettes and other Chevys, creating a phenomenal legacy for Knudsen.