TNX ZORA

Interesting article from Kettering University:

The Technician
The Student Voice of Kettering University

http://media.http://www.the-technician.org/media/...-3928916.shtml

Corvette Hero
Joe Spielman ('68) Visits Campus

Robert Hayes
Issue date: 9/7/10 Section: Opinion

Last month, Kettering was visited by Joe Spielman, former General Motors Vice President of North America Assembly and Stamping Operations, and a 1968 graduate of GMI. Spielman returned to campus to deliver one of his famous presentations on the history of the Chevrolet Corvette, a vehicle he knows well. While a sophomore at GMI, Spielman bought his first Corvette, a car which sparked a lifetime devotion to Chevrolet's premier sports car. In his time at GM, Spielman witnessed one of the darkest moments in General Motors history - the potential death of the Corvette.

Corvette, one of the few cars able to permanently embed itself in American culture, was dying. The fourth generation Corvette, or "C4", had been introduced in 1983 to great acclaim, but by the early '90s, Corvette was overcome by newer, faster rivals. Clearly, its replacement was already overdue, but due to a financial crisis at General Motors, the new C5 Corvette almost never saw the light of day. The new Corvette, originally envisioned as a 1993, had been pushed back to 1994, then to 1995, then '96. Finally, its development was suspended altogether.

In 1992 General Motors was in bad shape. The company posted a $23.5 billion dollar loss for the year amid a corporate restructuring that rewrote the way the world's largest automaker did business. As part of this restructuring, Spielman found himself in charge of the newly formed Midsize Car Division which encompassed all GM's midsize offerings, including the Corvette. When the word was handed down that Corvette might die at the end of the C4 generation, engineers and had already begun work on the C5, working in secret in the basement of GM's Warren Tech Center, away from the prying eyes of GM management, and without official program approval. When the restructuring took effect, no one was sure how Spielman would react to the unofficial development of Corvette's next generation. Fortunately for Corvette, Spielman was not about to let history die.

Beginning with a meeting where he brought his team together under one concept for the C5 by requiring them to take a magic marker "blood oath", Spielman was determined to bring the C5 to light. Initial approval for the development of the C5 Corvette was granted thanks to Spielman's impassioned pleas to GM management, with Spielman taking the unprecedented step of bringing the entire GN Board of Directors out to view the concept, in order to make his best pitch for the continuation of America's sports car.

Despite his best efforts, however, GM approved a development budget of merely $250 million, a fraction of the funding a typical new car program would require. Not only was this a paltry sum compared to other programs, the C5 Corvette was to be the most high-tech car GM had yet brought to market. C5 would utilize a frame made from the largest hydroformed rails yet attempted, a heads-up display, an all new interior, as well as implementing GM's all new generation-III V8 engine. Pulling off the car on that budget would be an impossible task without significant help, and there Mr. Spielman was able to help. C5 engineers were able to bill their time to the outgoing C4 model without question, and the C5 development mule was paid out of the Chevrolet brand budget and built off-site to avoid detection. Developing the C5 on time and on budget was a huge task given the turbulence shaking GM and the small budget, but somehow Team Corvette was able to make the C5 see the light of day.

The car that emerged from years of fighting and debate within GM was nothing short of breathtaking. Behind the dramatically shaped body, the C5 was a true performance car, capable of speeds up to 186 MPH. It even handled like a true sports car thanks to a near 50-50 weight distribution achieved by using a rear transaxle instead of the traditional rear wheel drive layout where the transmission is attached directly to the engine.

The C5 instantly became the darling of automotive journalists around the world, quickly winning the coveted Motor Trend Car of the Year Award in 1998. Thanks to Joe Spielman's superhuman efforts, Corvette has a future that is anything but uncertain.

blacksedan87

If you want the whole story - read All Corvettes are Red by James Schefter. Without the dedication and determination of a small group of people within GM - the C5 and C6 might not have happened.

redrckt97

its a Great read

Vetteman Jack

Interesting article. And yes, the book All Corvettes Are Red is excellent reading.

jrose7004

Yep, we've mostly read all about it in "All Corvettes Are Red".

c5BlackBeauty

Good article....thanks for posting.

TNX ZORA

I think it would be a good idea to take into consideration the possibility that not everyone who likes Corvettes and belongs to this forum has read virtually every book ever written about them. It looks like at least one person would agree that the post/article was worthwhile.

BigTattooMan

Thanks for the post, apparently I am one of the few who didn't know that and I'm happy to learn something new today.

02*C5

You know what this story is about. Not so much the reemergence of the Corvette C5 model, but the passion these men felt for this project and not letting the Corvette die off...What has made America great for the last 200+ years.

JerG

When i first read the post title, I thought you were talking about my car in the parking lot of my motel in Carlisle!

Seriously, anyone who has a C5, should read "ALL CORVETTES ARE RED" at least once!