All language subtitles for Jeff.Dunhams.The.Cars.That.Drove.Us.S01E04.Corvette.1080p.WEB.h264-CBFM_track3_[eng]

Hi, everybody, Jeff Dunham and
Walter at Dunham Family Motors.

-I'm not in your family.
-How are you, Walter?

How do you think I am?

It's the '60s,
and I'm an old guy.

-And you look like a hippie.
-Well, I like it.

-Get a haircut.
-Some things are just American.

Baseball, corn dogs, asking
to speak to the manager,

and this --
-[motor rumbling]

America didn't invent
the sports car, but we sure

made it louder,
shinier, and a lot more fun.

Fiberglass wrapped
around horsepower.

A declaration of independence.

And yeah, this one
stole the spotlight,

but the story starts
before the car,

and it doesn't end there either.

This is the tale of the first
three generations

of an automobile that was
the red, white, and blueprint

of an American icon.
-That's right.

It's our '68 convertible
Corvette Stingray.

All fiberglass so it weighs
next to nothing.

Take a spin in this,
baby Walter.

[Jeff] Throughout time, humanity
has been obsessed with getting

places using anything
but their own two feet.

-[horse neighs]
-[Jeff] We've tried
all kinds of things,

until finally,
the greatest invention

of all time, the automobile.

-[puppet giggles]
-[Jeff as puppet] Moron!

[Jeff] These are the cars
that drove us.

[marching band playing]

[Jeff] Americans are,
if anything, decisive.

They want their pie
full of apples,

they want their jeans
to be blue,

and their birds to be bald.
-[eagle calls]

[Jeff] But most important,
Americans don't just love

sports cars --
they love the C.

Not that sea.
We're talking the Corvette.

C1, C2, C3,

which are indeed sodden
with nautical tales.

Trust me, you'll see.

Well, the Chevrolet Corvette
is America's sports car.

[Jeff]
It's the car of choice for

everyone from Dominic Toretto
to Barbie.

[woman singing] Barbie Corvette,
now I'm driving for real.

[Jeff] Even alien robots are
transforming into Corvettes...

[transformer] Clear the path.

This is a good story
that you'll like.

[Jeff]...because when it came
to the Corvette,

it was love at first sight.

When the Corvette
was first introduced,

it was essentially a failure.

[Jeff] OK, maybe not love
at first sight, but trust me,

this is a love story.

But to tell it, we need
to go back a century.

[Peter] Automotive design
in the '20s and '30s

in the United States
was very mundane.

[Jeff] Cars weren't sleek,

and they definitely
weren't sexy.

But all that changed in 1928
when General Motors opened

a new department.
-Art and Color.

[Jeff]
The Art and Color department
marked a seismic shift

in how cars were made.

It was actually the first
internal design team

for a major corporation.

The guy that made it happen was
probably the Leonardo da Vinci

of car design, Harley Earl.

[Jeff] While Harley and Earl
sound like two guys you'd wanna

crack open a beer with, it was,
in fact, the name of one

legendary designer.
-Harley Earl was a visionary.

He wanted to change the whole
idea of what the automobile was

to make it an exciting,
something that was more

than transportation.
-He made cars emotional.

[Jeff] While the GM engineers
focused on efficiency,

Art and Color
had their own priorities.

Design, vision,
exploration, development.

You're testing out new ideas.

[Jeff] And one of
their biggest ideas?

The Buick Y-Job.

[1930s advertiser] A dozen years
of automotive progress

telescoped into one effort...

[Jeff]
The Y-Job pushed the rules
of design as well as technology,

featuring never-before-seen
concepts like

retractable headlights.

[1930s advertiser]
...all first by General Motors.

[Jeff] Harley Earl had invented
the concept car,

but a follow-up
would have to wait.

That's right when World War II
was about to kick off.

[reporter] The German cast
his fires about the globe.

And then it sort of
went silent on concept cars.

[cricket chirping]

Harley Earl was a big
supporter of the US military.

[Jeff] And the US military was
a big supporter of victory.

[crowd cheering]

[Jeff]
Meanwhile, Europe experienced
a sports car explosion.

But one British car
stood out of the pack.

-The Jaguar XK120.
-[jaguar roars]

[Jeff] Not only did the XK120
have the looks, with a top speed

of 120 miles per hour...

This is the fastest production
car in the world.

[Jeff]
...Harley wanted to throw his
hat into the sports car ring,

opening the door to...
-The Corvette.

[Jeff] Eh, not yet.

But Harley Earl did make
his first sports car.

LeSabre, 1951.

We're at the beginning
of the space race.

Harley Earl's doing cars
that look like jets.

It was such a load of fun.

[Jeff] The success of
the LeSabre concept car

opened the door for...
-The Motorama.

[trumpet fanfare playing]

[Jeff] Designed to promote
the future of General Motors,

the Motorama put their new
automotive technologies

right in front
of the American public.

The rest of the industry,
the only way

they could communicate
was through

black-and-white photos
in a newspaper.

Harley Earl always said
that the Motorama was the best

advertisement for
GM ever conceived.

[Jeff]
GM had turned marketing into
showstopping entertainment.

Because at the Motorama,
people got to see cars

in a whole different way.

-They also finally got to see...
-[tires screeching]

The very first Corvette
was shown as a concept.

[announcer]
The promise of tomorrow.

This is the mood
of the Motorama.

A promise made explicit
by customized cars

such as this Chevrolet Corvette.

[Jeff] And thanks to
the Motorama campaign...

The reaction was so strong
that it went into production

shortly thereafter.

Within months, it had
Corvettes available for sale.

[Jeff]
And just like that, Harley Earl

had pushed General Motors into

the hyper-competitive world
of sports cars.

It was a stylistic approach,

which was, of course,
was Earl's background.

The two-seater,
it was a convertible.

It was sort
of modernized styling,

wraparound windscreen,
everything.

[Jeff]
The Corvette looked just as good
as any European sports car

But was it faster?

I mean, it was not even
in the ballpark.

[Jeff] And the difference wasn't
in Corvette's favor.

The Corvette was very,
very simplified to keep

the cost down.
-It was a fairly primitive car.

-[rapid foot-scramble]
-[cartoon vroom]

The first Corvette only had
a two-speed transmission.

It had a very sort of anemic
six-cylinder engine.

Those qualities that existed in
the best European sports cars...

-[Jeff] Like the Jaguar XK120.
-[jaguar roars]

[Peter]...were not available
in the very first Corvettes.

This isn't some
high-tech sports car.

To tell you the truth, it
doesn't even handle that great.

[Jeff] The Corvette was only
at the start line,

and it was choking.

There would be people
high-level in the corporation

who wanted to
cancel the Corvette.

Corvette was not a huge
seller, and GM really didn't

take it seriously.
-It was essentially a failure.

[Jeff] The Corvette was in
trouble, but help was coming.

And as irony would have it,
it would be a European

that would hold the key
to saving America's sports car.

All right, let's go.

[car zooms away]

[Jeff] The Corvette's tepid
sales record might have resulted

in the car being retired,

but 1957 would be the year
that changed everything.

Harley Earl was retiring.

[Jeff] Harley had always
protected his teams,

so his staff had good reason
to express their concerns...

[sobbing]

...but no reason to fret.

Harley Earl had
a succession plan.

Bill Mitchell, his right-hand
man, was gonna take over

as the director of styling.

[Jeff] When it came to
Harley Earl's fledgling
sports car,

no one was more passionate
about the Corvette than...

-Zora Duntov.
-[kisses smack]

Zora was incredible.

[Jeff] The Belgium native
studied engineering by day

and by night...

Duntov was a race car driver.

[Jeff]
Zora would go on to race for
Porsche and work as an engineer

for Allard in America,
where he would see the Motorama

debut of the Corvette.

Zora saw Corvette and said,
"I wanna work for a company

that builds a car like that."

[Jeff]
But it wasn't blind fandom.

Zora realized what
the potential was and also what

was so deficient.
-He wrote GM a letter

saying that he can make
a better car.

[Jeff] The result?

GM's hired Zora to change
the direction and improve cars

in terms of drivability
and safety and performance.

[Jeff] So basically everything,
and that's exactly what he did,

working under Harley Earl
to improve the Corvette.

And it quickly got manual
transmissions, it got small

block Chevy V8.

[Jeff] Zora's upgrades were
a step towards realizing

Harley Earl's vision
for the Corvette.

The things that he wanted to
do did not always align

with the corporate ideas,
but there were enough people

there that understood what

he was trying to do
and backed him.

[Jeff] As a result, wizard
engineer Zora Duntov became

the director of
high-performance vehicles,

and design guru Bill Mitchell
would become the director
of styling.

Harley's heirs were in place
and ready to shape the future

of the Corvette.

-More specifically...
-The SS Corvette.

[Jeff]
The concept car was a chance
for Bill to make a statement

and for Zora to bring some much
needed muscle to the Corvette.

Ed Cole, who was behind the V8
engine project, put that engine

in the Corvette and completely

changed the whole idea
of what the car was.

[Jeff] With Ed Cole's engine,
the Corvette was finally faster

than the Jaguar XK120.
-[jaguar roars]

-[Jeff] But perhaps
it was too fast.
-[tires screech]

General Motors were really
concerned that they were going

to have legal problems.
-[gavel bangs]

[Jeff]
More speed meant more danger.

And they decided,
"We've gotta get out.

This is the wrong way
for us to go."

[Jeff] Rather than wait
for government regulation,

top automakers took action.

They came in with an agreement
called the American Automobile

Manufacturers Association
ban on performance.

So there was no more
advertising that wrote about

great performance.

No more engineering.

Cut off everything.
So that was June of '57.

Right after this great car had
been developed, that was almost

the end of the whole
Corvette program.

[Jeff] Which meant, as the head
of performance, Zora had been

benched, but at least he had
more time for his hobbies.

Zora was known to drink quite
a bit and also be a womanizer.

[disco music playing]

-[puppet gasps]
-[Jeff] OK.

Meanwhile,
Harley Earl's other protege

took the opportunity
to visit Italy.

[Peter]
The Turin show inspired him to
come back to the United States

and say, "We're doing
this Corvette program all wrong.

Let's do it more
like the Europeans."

Performance, great styling.

[Jeff] Which would be hard

considering the current
state of affairs.

[gavel bangs]

Bill Mitchell said,
"Bull [horn honks]."

-[Jeff] Bull [horn honks]?
-"Bull [horn honks],

"We're gonna do a new
Corvette and we're gonna

make it a success."

[Jeff] It wasn't something
Bill Mitchell could openly

work on in styling.

He needed to be discreet.

Advanced design existed
literally and figuratively

in GM's basement.

And that's exactly where
Bill Mitchell went.

He came downstairs and there
were four young guys in there.

[Jeff] And Peter Brock should
know he was one of them.

I was very, very fortunate
of coming into General Motors

as a designer at 19, which was
as young as anybody

had ever gone
into that industry.

[Jeff]
Advanced design was the place

where young talent
could move up.

But on that day, GM's top
designer was coming down.

[Peter] He walked in and started
telling us what he'd done

over in Turin.

You could feel his enthusiasm,
his desire, his passion

for the automobile.

[Jeff] Peter soon realized he
wasn't having a conversation.

-He was being recruited.
-[whistle blows]

We were gonna do this whole
car in secret.

Bill Mitchell was leading
a Corvette program completely

against management's wishes.

And we're going,
"God, this is incredible."

[Jeff] Mitchell laid out
his vision for the C2.

At stake, a one-way ticket out
of GM's basement.

There's three or four
of us in there,

and we're all competing
with each other.

[Jeff] Several sketches were
produced, but only one would

change the course
of automotive history.

He picked out the sketch that
I'd done in November of 1957

as the direction that we were
going to build

for the new Corvette.

Another word got up to
management that there was

something going on
in this advanced concept

studio downstairs.

[Jeff] GM's bad news bears had
been caught red handed.

I can't imagine how surprised
they were to see this really

incredible looking car

going ahead totally
against their wishes.

[Jeff] The secret alliance
dedicated to saving the Corvette

had been exposed.

And though Bill Mitchell didn't
have Harley Earl-level clout,

he had enough to keep
the project alive

with two stipulations --

You cannot call it
the Corvette

and you'll have
to pay for it yourself.

[Jeff] Pay for it yourself?

I've heard of pay cuts,
but an employee paying his boss

is a new one.

Obviously, Bill Mitchell
told GM...

-"OK, I'll do that."
-[Jeff] Wait, what?

Well, if he's paying for it,
at least he'll own it.

No.

[Jeff] But he could
get reimbursed?

No.

[Jeff]
Either Bill Mitchell hated
money or he loved the Corvette.

Consequently, we got
to continue the program.

[Jeff] And when it came time
to bring Peter's sketch to life,

the team needed a new hideout.

Studio X was very secret.

Hardly anyone even knew
where it was.

[announcer]
Because the newest designs
must be kept confidential until

just the right moment,
the stylists work in rooms

that are constantly locked.

[Jeff] And after two years,
Bill Mitchell's not-a-Corvette

was complete.

Bill had to come up
with a new name for the car.

[Jeff] For inspiration,
Bill turned to his second love.

One of his pastimes
was to go deep-sea fishing.

And admired all
these beautiful creatures

that he'd seen, decided he was
gonna call

it the Stingray.
-[Jeff] Huh?

We had power,
we had performance,

and most important,
we had fantastic appeal

for the American market.

If you don't mind my saying
so, that is a gorgeous hunk of

automobile you're driving.
-Glad you like it.

The public response to that
car on first seeing was that

somebody had come down
from outer space.

I mean, that was how far ahead
that design was.

[Jeff] The Stingray concept car
was a smash hit.

[Peter] The amount of publicity
that came out on that car

convinced management.

They allow Bill Mitchell to go
ahead and develop the car

as a production car.
-[Jeff] And about that name.

You cannot put the Corvette
name on.

[Jeff] But with GM's blessing,
the Stingray became

the Corvette Stingray,
aka the C2.

Nearly a decade since the debut
of Harley Earl's C1, no one

knew how people would react
when GM

pulled back the curtain on...

[advertiser]
The completely new Stingray.

Beautiful?
Sunsets are beautiful.

Newborn babies are beautiful.

This, this is
[horn honks] spectacular.

If you look at the sketch done
from 1957 to the car that came

out in 1963,
it's the same automobile.

[Jeff] Not so fast, Peter.

There was one
glaring difference.

Bill Mitchell took the large
rear window, which I designed,

decided to split
the rear window.

[Jeff] Harley Earl fought to
keep the C1 alive so

Bill Mitchell could fight
to introduce the C2.

But was it worth it?

You couldn't build them fast
enough for the American market.

[Jeff] Chevrolet recommitted
themselves to the Corvette,

making some welcome
year-two improvements.

Bill Mitchell was open
to modifying any part of the C2

as long as they didn't touch...
-The split window.

That's one of the high points
of Corvette design

Bill Mitchell personally
put into it.

[Jeff]
There was just one problem --

Zora hated it.

[Jeff] The split window
had created a new split

on the Corvette team.

Bill was more interested in
building automobiles that were

attractive to people.

He didn't really have
the engineering understanding

that Zora had,
and constantly there was always

a political conflict between
these two great guys

in the Corvette program.

[Jeff]
In one corner, GM styling.

Their opponent?
Engineering.

[bell dings]

[Jeff] Time to fight.

[Peter] And next year, in '64,
it went back to the full window,

but Bill got the design
for one year.

[Jeff] It was a big win for
Team Zora, a decision many

on Team Bill resent to this day.

I was not a part of taking
the split window off.

I would have never have
done that.

[Jeff] But the dueling
department heads needed to work

together as a new threat
to the Corvette emerged.

Because to tell that story,

we need to go back in time
to 1959,

where Bill Mitchell
was once again fishing.

-Only this time...
-[Tom] He reeled in a shark.

[Jeff] Does this guy ever just
catch a trout?

He just loved that flowing
shape of the shark.

You know, the shark is a
high-performance animal, really.

[Jeff] Bill's catch of the day
would go on to inspire

the 1961 concept car,
the Mako Shark.

He was enamored with how
the color of the shark was

graded from dark
to bright silver.

He had the shark that
he caught actually stuffed,

and he brought it down to
the paint shop and said,

"Guys, match
this color scheme."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Mitchell."

[Jeff] Once completed,
Bill Mitchell rushed out to see

the finishing touch
on his Mako Shark.

He came down and said,
"Nope, that's not it.

Look at the shark.
You guys don't have it yet."

They went at it a second time.

[Jeff] And as they say,
second time is the charm.

"Nope, that's not it."

[Jeff]
Well, third time's the charm.

-"Nope."
-[Jeff] So, fourth.

-"Nope."
-[Jeff] Finally.

"Nope."

[Jeff] Luckily, Bill Mitchell
was a patient man.

Bill Mitchell was not
a patient man.

[Jeff] With Bill Mitchell's
patience eroding,

desperate times call
for desperate measures.

Rather than repaint the car,
they repainted the stuffed

shark in the transition colors.

And they invited Bill down
again to review it.

"You got it this time!"

[Jeff] But in the end,
it was worth it.

The excitement of
General Motors was,

"Just go -- let 'em run."

[Jeff] Giving Bill Mitchell
the opening he needed to take

a concept to production.

He said, "We have the Mako II.

Let's use that as the theme
for the '68 Corvette."

[heavenly vocalizing]

And off we went.

[Jeff] Chevrolet had challenged
head engineer Zora Duntov

and head of style Bill Mitchell

to create the next
generation Corvette.

As you can imagine, if you're
saying you're gonna

introduce an all-new Corvette
the pressure's immense.

[Jeff] It was a make-or-break
moment for the Corvette

and an opportunity for Zora
and Bill to make their mark.

But what Zora wanted and what
Bill wanted seldom aligned.

When Chevrolet saw the first
clay models of that design,

the engineers
were very much against it.

[Jeff] Zora and Bill fought over
everything from fenders...

For particularly a short
driver, you couldn't see over

the high-peak fenders.
-[Jeff]...to engine placement.

[Chris]
One of Zora's dreams
had always been

to do a mid-engine version
of the Corvette.

We first saw that so-called
rear-engine revolution,

even though they
were mid-engine,

at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway in about 1964.

[Jeff] Mid-engine models spoke
Zora's love language.

The idea of mid-engine
was all about performance.

Mid-engine cars really made
the front-engine look

like dinosaurs.
-[dinosaur roars]

[Jeff] Mid-engine appeared to be

exactly what
the Corvette needed.

Bill Mitchell said,
"Bull [horn honks]."

[Jeff]
Bill Mitchell believed

the Corvette had been
firmly established

as a front-engine car.

Zora Duntov was not going to
give up on his mid-engine dream

without a fight.
Chevrolet's general manager...

[John Shettler] John DeLorean
felt the mid-engine Corvette

was the way to go.

And he and Duntov were
hand and glove on that.

[Jeff] All of General Motors had
been sucked into the battle

of Mitchell versus Duntov.
-[bell dings]

[Jeff] And by split decision,
GM management had

declared a winner.
-Bill Mitchell won out.

[Jeff] The C3 entered production
with his engine up front

and party in the back.

Eh, well, the gas tank was
in the back.

C3 was such a big statement
when it came out.

Man, what a ride!

[Jeff]
As it turned out, despite
their different approaches,

Bill and Zora's end goal
was the same.

They were determined to be
the number-one sports car
in America.

Created an incredible buzz.

[Jeff]
Soon the Corvette captured
Hollywood's imagination.

-Isn't it beautiful?
-Oh, God.

[Jeff] And then the world,
making the C3 the longest

Corvette production run.
-[Gary] Came out in 1968.

The C4 didn't come out
until '84.

[Jeff] Over the course of the
C3's run, Zora committed himself

to maximizing the Corvette
as a performance vehicle.

Thanks to its strong foundation
built by Harley Earl,

Bill Mitchell, and Zora Duntov,
the Corvette would live on

for generations.

Then, in 2019,
the impossible happened.

It's time to go to mid-engine.

[Jeff] And that's exactly
what they did.

[announcer]
The engine's back here.

This is the first
mid-engine Corvette.

[Jeff] Zora's dream had
been realized.

That was a profound moment.

When the new design came out,
it was loved.

[Jeff] It wasn't just loved.
It was the car of the year.

Corvette has become
a world-class sports car.

[Jeff] As to which Corvette
is the best?

Obviously, I like C1.

C2 Corvette.
Beautiful car.

The C3 came out.
That was like, "Wow!"

My favorite Corvettes,
the C2, the C5,

the C7, and the C8.

You and this car
were made for each other.

[Jeff] And while there may be
no clear winner,

what is clear is...

Corvette has always been
the pride of America.

There's a handful of cars that
make you just proud

of the red, white, and blue.

Corvette has to be
at the top of that list.

And, man, is it fun.
[laughs]

[Jeff] But if you think that's
the end of the Corvette story...

Here for a ride?

...Bill and Zora would surely
agree that's...

Bull [horn honks].

...bull [horn honks].

[Achmed the Dead Terrorist]
I kill you!