What Was Kirk Bennion’s Impact On Corvette Design? | Corvette Design | CORVETTE TODAY #260

Name: What Was Kirk Bennion’s Impact On Corvette Design? | Corvette Design | CORVETTE TODAY #260 | Open Video
Uploaded: 2025-05-09T00:29:23+00:00
Duration: 33 min 19 s

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[Music] welcome to Corvette today the show that
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talks about everything Corvette with your host Steve Garrett lifetime member of the National Corvette Museum
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president of the Corvette club of Kansas City Missouri and radio disc jockey at the number one radio station in Kansas
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City for over 45 years here's Steve
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Garrett thanks for listening and watching Corvette today the show that talks about everything Corvette and the
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only current podcast dedicated to Corvette I'm your host Steve Garrett I appreciate you tuning in Corvette today
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is brought to you by wheelcraft want to dress up your Corvette with bright Chrome or black chrome wheels visit
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and a shout out to Canadian Corvette forum and Corvette forum welcoming Corvette enthusiasts from around the
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world on this episode of Corvette today we celebrate the career of the man who designed what your Corvette looks like
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today Kirk benan has worked at GM for over four decades three plus of those on
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Corvette he was on Corvette today number 34 way back in December of 2020 today we
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look back at his illustrious career Kirk welcome back to Corvette today buddy Steve so happy to be here thanks for
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having me you bet it's always good to have you on the show Kirk before we celebrate your career let's talk about
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your education career where did you go to school what was your degree in I went to the Cleveland Institute of Art that's
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a five-year private art college very high-end much like ccs Art Center those
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are all great schools for young designers so my major was industrial design I have a minor in graphic design
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I also have a minor in figure painting which you might think is kind of strange but I had a really good art teacher when
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I was in high school and the thing that she would push is building your creativity was part of it but also
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developing a Keen Eye and if you want to have a Keen Eye obviously drawing or painting the human figure that was part
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of that equation at Cleveland I would go in I would paint a portrait every two weeks I could pretty much knock him out
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in six hours wow that's pretty amazing buddy I've learned something new about you today yes yeah that's really cool
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all right so after you graduated school what was your first job so my first job was being hired in at GM oh okay I was
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still at the Cleveland stute of art so we had Chuck Jordan the Chuck Jordan wow come down to our school to interview
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myself and my other there's about 20 of us and actually Chuck was the main guy who hired all the creative designers you
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know back into the 60s and the 50s and that he knew what he wanted in a designer you know he wanted passion he
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wanted conviction he wanted designers that were going to work hard for him he really set the bar that's really cool I
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love these Back stories about your conversations in your interview with GM tell me more about when you and Chuck
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got together and how you got hired so for me we had Chuck come down and Chuck drove one of his Ferraris down wow you
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know he's a very passionate car person in that and obviously doesn't have anything against Ferrari in that but
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that was just part of his passion as you can appreciate being at a five-year school and everything like that I did
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not want to leave anything up for question so I was working very hard on a portfolio getting ready for Chuck's
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interview what I ended up doing was securing the art gallery for myself and my friends so we could put our artwork
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up in this really beautiful scenario in that so he's looking at everything because he's a vice president so we
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wanted everything to be highend quality and that Chuck comes up to me and he looks at everything I have I had
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350 sketches on the wall I had four portfolios and I had two mid-engine hard
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models and I'm going to tell you one was a typical side by side Mid Engine but the other one was a four and a half Mid
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Engine so it was kind of more missile shaped you know we wanted him to see stuff that he'd never see before Chuck
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stood there and he looked up and across he waited about five seconds and he says you're hired wow I think it was probably
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the fastest interview you could have at General Motors at the time that's amazing what a story Kirk yes that's
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incredible now you spent 41 years with General Motors what was your first job when you got into GM obviously I don't
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think you started with Corvette but what was your first job once you got into General Motors so once I got hired in in
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those days we had five Advanced Studios I was being placed in advanced three now
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lo and behold when I walked into Advance 3 There's Tom Peters there wow you know
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Tom had been hired in for about a year and a half closer to two and Jim Beak was our design manager that's where my
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career started with Tom Peters Tom and I would exchange different spots depending on what we were doing there was a time
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where I was in Pontiac so then he went to Pontiac and then I went to Chevy 3 so we swapped back and forth after that
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like 1999 I would be by Tom Peter side for the rest of my career that's really
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cool now you did a lot of exterior design for more than just Corvette talk about some of the other GM vehicles that
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you did design for okay so when I was in Chevy 3 and like I said we were actually
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sketching C5 and we were doing C5 Scale Models the C5 was getting its
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architecture and its business case restructured things like that so we we kind of put that on hold for a little
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bit so I transitioned to Bill Davis Bill Davis was our chief designer he had
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basically everything that wasn't already big trucks so we ended up working the next night years on S trucks on the
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full-size van the Suburban the Tahoe there's a little s truck in there that
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had the sport side those were real popular at the time was working on those with John Moss within your portfolio GM
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you know they always like you to have truck experience and like I said having that experience for nine years was pretty eventful it also led to some of
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our crossover Vehicles like the Traverse you know that was huge right the Outlook the Arcadia and I was happy to say that
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at that time we were actually ahead of the curve with our crossovers that's really cool now you also worked on
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Camaro didn't you Kirk yes yes and actually when I was in chevy3 and here again we were under Lloyd Roy in those
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days and you know Lloyd was really great he'd come in and he'd loved seeing the new guys in the studio you know he's
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very passionate but he knew that we were going to bring in new energy and new ideas and he just loved to see that
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collaboration that's really nice you know and especially a guy like Lloyd coming from him that's really cool yeah
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so while in that studio we were sketching on like I said C5 but we were also working on what you know as the 91
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Camaro and then the 93 Camaro that was a big deal for me I was a lead designer on that did all the arrow work you know
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under Randy with Team guys I was working with in the studio all those guys would eventually be Hall of Famers but yeah I
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still have one of those 93 Camaros today it's heartfelt it was neat to be a part of that and the car is still relatively
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modern with its rear hatch things like that you know I call it my Home Depot car I can go to Home Depot and just put
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anything I want in the back yeah that's true that's really true that's a great car that is for sure well buddy let's
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take our first break when we come back we're going to dig more into your career with Corvette that's coming up next here
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and now back to Corvette today with your host and my husband be Garrett thanks
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docomo Steve Garrett with me is Kirk benan the former exterior design manager for Corvette we are celebrating his
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career with General Motors and Corvette in this segment we're going to talk a little bit more about his time with
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Corvette Kirk you really started with the C5 when you came in C4 was already done talk about some of the highlights
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of the C5 generation C5 there was some challenges that we had with the business
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case the package Arrow was a big part of C5 under Dave Hill and there was also
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some good positives with C5 we got the bigger Wheels 18s and 19s you got the
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wider track we also had the hard top and the convertible so it was a very compelling car we just needed time to
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work through some of those issues will cookie was part of that he came to the charge and he was part of that car being
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real as well they was a big part obviously of that car he was part of every piece that was being developed for
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that was pretty much under Dave Hill and then Tator at the time yeah we would later do the 2004 C5 as a collector car
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you know that was the first car to get an all carbon fiber hood it was painted carbon fiber but that was still us
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stepping into the carbon fiber Pond that was really good for us at that time yeah that was a significant thing too let's
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talk about C6 real quick basically same question talk about some of the highlights of the C6 generation for me
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well the C6 obviously there was some learnings there the biggest thing I could tell you that happened on C6 was
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we started collaborating with Doug fand and the Pratt Miller race team right from the very beginning there was some
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things on the C5 you know like the center plate didn't translate as well for racing we started off with Doug and
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his team on the racing effort and that meant getting a front end that was more efficient for taking an airflow break
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cooling things like that and of course you know Dave Hill is a big supporter of that as well cuz his model was always
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bring racing to work day the C6 we did the initial car you know which was really good for low drag things like
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that spaciousness in the inside was huge we were still in our interior development with that car and doing what
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we would nickname as the widebody cars doing the high performance cars yeah that was huge for C6 and I would tell
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you those early widebody cars are still coveted oh yeah absolutely right the one that I worked on the most was the 2009
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ZR1 you know here again we're going through business challenges we're still working on bigger wheel sizes things
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like that the thing that we ended up having to do the business case wasn't lined up yet so I would work on that car
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underground I mean I worked on it underground for four and a half years wow we always felt that that would be an
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epic car you know it was supercharged it had the arrow package it had Magnetic Ride it had all these customer features
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and then we did finally come out with it and then we were at the auto week car show downtown in Detroit we took first
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overall with that car car that's incredible I think we surprised a lot of people with what we were able to get the
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carbon ceramic brakes that was a big wi for us at the time yep that turned out to be a big surprise and then we would
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follow up with what you know is the 2011 Z6 carbon where we kept the drivetrain and everything like that we had a
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normally aspirated engine we weren't worried about it being supercharged back then and and of course that car it was
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always about being light weight and having those Magnetic Ride features yeah now I know the C7 was supposed to be the
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mid-engine car car but that got pushed back talk to me about how that affected you and your team with the development
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of the C7 yes C7 was a good car for us we were able to make it different enough
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early on in the development of that car you know we were guarded we would refer to it as maybe c6m I would tell you I
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put together a grocery list of what I felt needed to be on the car for us to
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consider it to be a C7 so I had 12 items on there basically Tor gave me all 12 of
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those items wow unique rear hatch wheel sizes Arrow Parts all that was supported
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by Tad the c7s are still very popular today when I attend some of the shows like Watkins Glen things like that I
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still see what I call the widebody c7s I still see those as being very popular cars absolutely yeah wonderful
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proportion you get newer Tech you get the high-end interior and then we were doing special additions of those cars
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too that was always for Harland and I part of our recipe it was to give the customer personal Fe features that they
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could tag and apply to their car and put it in a personal venue that was just for them yep I love those special editions
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the collector edition with the blue that was awesome yeah yeah the red white and blue cars were pretty popular that was
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true buddy tell me something when did you really start in Earnest working on a mid-engine Corvette good question I'm
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going to surprise you here because we started on that that was probably 2004 we were in La we were conducting a
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clinic we brought in a 275 feri and a stradali mid engine stradali car we made
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this look like this was a Ferrari Clinic yeah is what most people felt they were walking into what we were trying to find
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out was what did our customers think of a mid-engine car versus a front engine car going through that clinic it was
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neat because we would space out some of the groups you know we'd have like a European group we did an all Corvette
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group oh and we asked them of these two cars the stali has better 0 to 60 than
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the 275 12 for 12 12 Corvette people in this Clinic all 12 raised their hand and
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said I want the Mid Engine they wanted the 060 times and also they could see that that proportion that architectural
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change looked like a more exotic car that was really huge for us so we kind of took that learning and I would tell
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you in 2007 we had a full-size Corvette now in that 07 car some of our
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challenges were transmission was bigger than it needed to be we had interference issues with that and the muffler we just
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weren't ready it wasn't until T tell we start started working on our own transmission that was a huge enabler for
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the mid-engine car interesting I tell you what let's take our final break Kirk when we come back we're going to talk
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more about your C8 design in the mid-engine car coming up next here on Corvette
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docomo Steve Garrett with me is Kirk benan the former exterior design manager for Corvette we're going to talk more
23:11
about the C8 design Kirk let's talk about that C8 Corvette because moving that engine in the back had to create
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some major obstacles when you guys were designing that car talk more about some of the logistics that you had to go
23:24
through when moving that engine into the back you know obviously that was a big deal I would tell you in those days a
23:30
gentleman by the name of Kim Lynn and Ed Moss those two guys were probably the most influential in making that happen
23:36
for design we were all for it like I said it was changing up the proportion the other big news was we went to bigger
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wheels in the back so we improveed The Stance of the vehicle that was a win but obviously within this new architecture
23:49
cooling was a big metric we've done a lot of cooling with C7 C6 of course but this was a different animal and getting
23:56
air to the back of the car getting it into the rear quarters and you can see in our current zer1 that we've modified
24:02
and updated some of those airflow paths that was huge to the car back then and then part of that proportion was having
24:10
the right spacing for the driver MH I would tell you my good friend Ed pych was our template it was our goal for him
24:16
to be able to fit in the car and still wear a helmet that's why today you'll see some taller customers that are 64
24:23
depending on you know their torso proportion or whatever we've been able to put larger customers in the car
24:29
that's really important because I know that it gave you different weight balance it moved the seating position 16
24:35
12 in forward yes talk about some of those other design features that were highlighted for the C8 Corvette well I
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would tell you for the front end here again getting back to the cooling aspect having those heat exchangers on the
24:49
front Corners that was a big deal and getting to package those and you know when there was Pedro criteria that we
24:55
had to do for export and obviously the pushes to still keep the car beautiful through the collaboration of the team
25:02
you know obviously guys like Josh holder Tad's Jor were huge and helping us get
25:07
some of the packaging Chris pillo friend of mine was also key in getting radiators packaged to the front and also
25:13
having heat exchangers in the rear quarters that was all a big deal and and then we had Pratt and Miller using their
25:19
technology and we were studying airflow paths and what was the most efficient way to get air to the rear of the car
25:25
it's a huge collaboration then especially when you're talking about cooling the the car because that's one of the things you just can't fall short
25:31
on here again with this architecture being brand new we needed a robust cooling map for this car to make it on
25:36
the road yeah talk about the wind tunnel for me Kirk because I know you're big on working in the Wind Tunnel tell me about
25:43
the wind tunnel with the ca Corvette so let me back up a little bit on the Wind Tunnel because when I was a young man
25:49
and I was working in Chevy 3 and like I said these were Lloyd Royce days I would work with rainy with te in the Wind
25:56
Tunnel that was a big part of the collaboration John cafero his requirement for me as a
26:01
young man back then was that I would learn to work the wind tunnel I would also learn to drive cars on the track
26:07
the big thing was learning to work with Engineers when he did my cap review for those at the time those were three big
26:13
things of me that he wanted me to be a part of so that's how I always got involved with the arrow it started with
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really John cafero having the vision to say hey we need designers who can understand aerodynamics on Corvettes
26:25
that's really cool now when you think about the final design of the C8 talk more about the advantages that the C8
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Corvette has over other miden engine cars I would tell you the the big Advantage you know the windshield
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placement as you can appreciate in our world we went back and forth and tried different positions and that but getting
26:42
that downward Vision we felt was key and then it was also very key to the design
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you look at that windshield it's very fast it's got nice curvature it's really a handsome part of the car yeah
26:54
definitely you know and it's got to make you proud seeing all the c8s on the streets and how popular they are plus
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bringing a new and younger generation to the Corvette family doesn't it yes and I would tell you the stingray really
27:06
carries itself on the road I got a few of my neighbors that usually driving around you know you look at them and
27:11
they got a huge smile on their face it's like they're driving a Ferrari every day yeah because that Mid Engine proportion
27:16
just resonated on the stingray it turned Stingray into a huge hit for us absolutely high volume wise orders
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things like that you know customers real happy with it now the other thing that of the architecture that is key was not
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only did we have the heat exchangers up there but we also had the frunk up there so we were giving the customer front end
27:34
storage as well as the rear storage now somebody will always tell you well we designed the back end for golf clubs
27:40
well we didn't we designed it to fit two Delta bags one of taj's wishes was he could go to the airport leave his car
27:47
there and still be able to go back and forth with Luggage in that it just by coincidence that we're able to get get
27:53
golf clubs back there and that's a huge win for me as a golfer for a client tell's golf yeah I remember when the C8
27:59
came out everybody said this is a great design but can I get my golf clubs in the car and you left room for not one
28:05
but two bags in the back yes two small bags versus maybe depending on what
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you're golfing you know I have a regular size but it still fits in there very well and what's not to like that here
28:16
again you can go to your favorite golf course and drive your favorite car and pull out your best clubs it's all a great experience exactly right buddy
28:23
let's get some closing thoughts from you first off just know that the entire Corvette community loves you they
28:29
respect you we thank you for everything that you've done for Corvette now you get to hang out with us at some of the
28:34
upcoming events you will sorely be missed give me some final thoughts about your career with General Motors and
28:40
Corvette well you know I would tell you for my career Jim I feel very fortunate I was at the right place at the right
28:47
time with people like Tom Peters and John cafero I got to work on some very impactful programs I think when you if
28:53
you were look at my talent card I had 50 plus different programs that I worked done I worked on crossovers with Jack
29:00
folden Jack was a wonderful gentleman as long as I kept his work going he would let me work on the Corvette stuff
29:06
underground didn't matter as long as everything was still getting done wow that was a huge benefit and I kind of
29:13
done that through my career where I would bounce into different programs they might have been crossovers they
29:18
might have been trucks but I always had the support from my leaders if Corvette needed anything they'd look the other
29:24
way let me get something done here so that was always huge enabling people like Ed welburn you know he was always
29:30
key to having positive design work going on in the workplace one of my favorite Ed welburn stories was go back to C6
29:37
days we had the Ron Fellows car that was at the Chicago Auto Show at the McCormick Center it was our first
29:43
special edition special chrome wheels special Graphics the red interior we had
29:49
that there and lo and behold we ended up taking first place at the Chicago Auto
29:54
Show with the Ron fell car now of course Harin and I are standing there we get a visit from Bob Lutz and Tom Wallace Tom
30:01
Wallace is the vle yeah where' this car come from well har I we just kind of put this special edition together oddly
30:08
enough somehow the memo didn't get to those two guys that they knew we were doing that that's awesome so the next day we
30:15
have Ed welburn in the studio in front of harlon and myself Ed is a real savy guy in that he's just a wonderful
30:22
gentleman to work for so Ed comes to us and he goes all right that was nice that car did really well thanks for doing
30:27
that guys you know maybe we could communicate a little bit better on the next one that's awesome then he said looked
30:34
at harl I goes I want a special edition Corvette for every year wow that's the
30:40
ne thing about it is he saw the wisdom in how well that Corvette did and we're up against all these other new cars and
30:46
all these other brands and everything like that but that car still transcended all those competitors that's how and why
30:53
we got into those special editions cuz they do resonate so well and are huge customer Pleasers that's awesome what a
30:59
great story buddy thank you so much for everything you've done for us in Corvette Community take care don't be a
31:06
stranger with Corvette today oh and believe me Steve when I say I will be there I'm looking forward to attending
31:12
some of the track events and then now that I have a little more time on my hands I can do more of that you know I've got my son-in-law and toe we'll be
31:19
having a good time and you'll see me around at the bash like I said I'm Consulting with the RSC guys they're a
31:25
wonderful group they're in the C8 and if we can do some things that are newer and still keeping C8 relevant you know I
31:31
think that's still in the cards that's awesome that sounds fantastic look forward to seeing you soon buddy all right thanks Steve you bet thanks again
31:37
for listening and watching Corvette today and be sure to tell your family friends and other Corvette enthusiasts
31:43
about the Corvette Today Show and thanks to our sponsors wheelcraft want to dress up your Corvette with bright Chrome or
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black chrome wheels visit wheelcraft decom to learn about their Advanced PVD chrome finishing they can refinish your
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wheels or offer a wheel exchange for most models and comes with a 5-year warranty visit wheelcraft today or call
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32:07
spp.com the official performance exhaust of Corvette today coka Corvette at
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docomo aerol lari Wheels get $100 off your purchase with the promo code ct1111
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at AOL l.com Mark falter with the retirement income Hour podcast and
32:32
Hendrick Chevrolet in Kansas City at Chevy usa.com thanks for checking out Corvette
32:38
today on podcast and YouTube if you'd like to contact Steve with ideas for Corvette today you can email him at
32:45
Steve Garrett DJ atgmailcom Garrett has two RS and two T's that's Steve Garrett
32:51
dj@ gmail.com also sign up for email notifications at Corvett toay . ck. page
32:59
follow Steve in the show on social media on Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn
33:05
and threads at Steve Garrett DJ thanks again for listening and watching Corvette today
33:12
[Music]

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