Then he said something of landmark proportions. “If the use of the (new small-block V8) Chevrolet engine will be made easy and the very first attempts will be crowned with success, the appeal of the new will take hold and not having the stigma of expensiveness like the Cadillac or Chrysler (hemi), a swing to Chevrolet may be anticipated. This means the development of a range of special parts – camshafts, valves, springs, manifolds, pistons and such which will be made available to the public.” Bingo! By that single statement, the so-called “speed equipment industry” received what was arguably its biggest transfusion of energy and history-making support. It sounded like an OEM might contemplate designing, building and selling high performance parts through its own distribution system! But, as previously mentioned, the author later said there wasn’t much initial corporate reaction to his document.
During an interview at the Superflow Advanced Engine Technology Conferences (circa 1990), the author told me that “Chevrolet had its head in sand, thinking that natural evolution of small-block would be sufficient to gain dominance over Ford. I said it will take more than time. I also said, ‘If special parts are carried as RPO items for the Corvette, they (consumers) undoubtedly will be recognized by the hot rodders as the very parts they were looking for to hop up the Chevy.’” It was classic marketing simplicity.
We only need to look back now to see the influence that this had on the high performance industry. In fact, you can see the OEM’s are still involved in the high-performance parts business. But the landscape has changed. Back when the document was written and GM elected to begin selling over-the-counter performance parts, so-called “long term” product buys were the norm. This meant that parts were ordered (from OEM suppliers) based on multi-years sales projections. So, potential sales losses in a product’s declining market life had to be built into the initial price. Result? The OEM stuff cost more than the aftermarket pieces.
Obviously, this wasn’t the case among speed equipment manufacturers of the day. Consequently, for example, you could purchase an Edelbrock intake manifold (for a small-block Chevy) at a fraction of the cost for GM’s version of the same part. So what happened? The speed equipment manufacturers began to grow and flourish, building pieces for the flat-head Ford’s replacement…the small-block Chevy. The document had awakened the proverbial sleeping giants of hot rodding innovation, and the stream of parts for this engine (in all its multiple forms and applications) continued. Today, many OEM performance parts are private-label-built by traditional specialty parts manufacturers who also sell in the same marketplace. Strange bed-fellows to be sure. But let’s return to what the author finally had to say.
Rather eloquently, he concluded with, “These thoughts are offered for what they are worth – one man’s thinking aloud on the subject.” So as you have read this little monthly collection of words, be assured much of the high performance industry we know today, even this website, might not have evolved as it did had Zora Arkus-Duntov neither taken the time nor run the corporate risk of reducing his thoughts and predictions to one three-page document, and then backing them up with a career that both focused on and used as a springboard for his fertile mind…the Corvette.
