Three men have been chosen to be inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame during the 20th annual ceremony set for Sept. 1, 2017.
The National Corvette Museum says the new individuals to be recognized with the highest honor bestowed by the organization for their contributions to the past, present and future of Corvette are Peter Brock in the Enthusiast category, Jim Minneker in the GM/Chevrolet category, and Tommy Morrison in the Racing category.
The inductions of these three men will be part of the NCM’s 23rd Anniversary Celebration set for Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, 2017.
Brock, of course, at age 19 became one of the youngest designers ever at GM Design and actually submitted the sketch that was refined with the help of Chuck Pohlmann, Larry Shinoda, and Tony Lapine to become the first Corvette known as a Sting Ray, the XP87 Corvette Sting Ray Racer, the car that has influenced the look of every Corvette since.
Minneker, meanwhile, used his insight as a racer and an engineer to help the Corvette team from 1986 to 1996 with the design of the LT1, LT4, and LT5 engines, the latter of which powered the legendary ZR-1 supercar. He was one of a team of eight drivers that set the 24-Hour Speed Endurance World Record Run in 1990 behind the wheel of a stock ZR-1 at an average speed of 175.885 mph. He also played a key role in the development of the National Corvette Museum, eventually serving as chairman of the board.
Lastly, Morrison and his partner, the late Jim Cook, formed Morrison-Cook Motorsports, which dominated showroom stock racing and proved that Mobil 1 and Corvette were a nearly unbeatable combination to earn more 24-hour endurance wins than any team before them.
Morrison’s wins gave the Chevy marketing department lots of ammo to promote the car, including the aforementioned 1990 24-Hour Speed Endurance World Record Run. The actual ZR-1 used by Morrison and his team is on long-term display at the NCM because of its importance in establishing the Corvette as a high-performance icon.
These three men will join 64 other individuals inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame since its inception in 1997. You can read more about all of them on the Museum’s website at www.corvettemuseum.org.
Source:
National Corvette Museum
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