Ashes To Ashes, And Eat My Dust

Ashes of the late Zora Arkus-Duntov, an automotive engineer known as the father of the Corvette, will be placed in the national museum that pays tribute to the sports car he designed.

“It’s appropriate not only that he’ll be near the cars he loved, but also near the people who love his cars,” National Corvette Museum spokeswoman Charlotte Davidson said Monday.

Arkus-Duntov’s ashes will be entombed June 21 at the museum in Bowling Green, fulfilling his final request.

The ashes will be placed near a large bust of the former chief engineer for Chevrolet and close to a display of Corvettes from the 1950s and ‘60s, Davidson said.

The 86-year-old Arkus-Duntov died April 21.

“It was his last request that his ashes be at the National Corvette Museum, to be near his cars,” said Dan Gale, a founder of the museum in the south-central Kentucky city, where Corvettes are produced.

Arkus-Duntov, a Belgian-born, German-trained engineer, started working for Chevrolet in 1953 - the Corvette’s first model year. He transformed the Corvette from a slow-selling two-seater into a sports car favorite.