The National Corvette Museum has announced the following inductees to be recognized as part of the 12th Annual Corvette Hall of Fame Ceremony in 2009. Production/ Automotive GM Designer, Duane “Sparky” Bohnstedt, Corvette Racing Legend Duo, Anthony J. (Tony) De Lorenzo and Gerald D. (Jer) Thompson, and Corvette Historian/Enthusiast, John P. Hinckley will be recognized with the highest honor bestowed by the Museum for their contributions to the past, present and future of Corvette.

The 2009 Hall of Fame recipients will be inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame during a ceremony and banquet on Friday, September 4, 2009. Their induction will take place as part of the Museum’s 15th Anniversary Corvette Celebration/Grand Reopening and 4th National Corvette Caravan festivities September 3-5, 2009. www.corvettemuseum.org 

Corvette Hall of Fame Inductee Duane “Sparky” Bohnstedt began as a junior designer at General Motors in 1951 working on Oldsmobile and Chevrolet designs. In 1952, he was transferred to the Chevrolet Studio working side by side with Clare “Mac” McKichan, the studio Chief Designer. It was in this studio that “Sparky” became involved with the Corvette.

He was instrumentally involved in the design of the 1954-1957 Corvettes and passenger cars. “Sparky” was a member of the design team responsible for the three variations of the Corvette for the 1954 GM Motorama, and then moved on to other projects until Chuck Jordan assigned him to do a facelift for the 1959 Corvette. It was an opportunity to make major changes in the design and the team took full advantage of it. The facelift was incorporated in two stages, with the four tail light rear end design (forerunner of the Stingray design) introduced in 1961 and the front end with the flip up headlights in 1963. These changes also led to the new fast back, split window roof.

In 1961, Bohnstedt was made “Associate Professor of Design” at Stanford University and two years later, GM sent him to Germany where he worked on the Opel automotive design. In the mid 70’s he was put in charge of one of GM’s design studios and by 1979 was made chief exterior designer for commercial vehicles until he retired in 1984. After his retirement from GM, he turned his attention to the history of his old Air 

Force unit of World War II, the 460th Bomb Group. With the help of his wife Betty, they have written and published two books on the history of the 460th Bomb Group, and serve as historians for the group. Bohnstedt was part of a group that helped mold, shape and create Corvettes that continues to leave a mark on generations past and of the future.

Corvette Hall of Fame Inductee John P. Hinckley is a name Corvette enthusiasts world-wide recognize for achievements that span over 40 years in technical contributions to Corvette, engineering and ingenuity as an expert historian and writer. John began with Chevrolet in the early 60’s as a production foreman supervising the build of the Chevy II and Corvair at Willow Run, and moved on in 1966 to the Chevrolet Pilot Line in Flint, Michigan as Senior Process Engineer - Passenger Cars. During 1966-1968, John was assigned to Chevrolet Production Engineering in Warren as a Liaison Engineer – responsible for future passenger car assembly processing, including the Corvette. John spent a great deal of time at Chevrolet assembly plants and participated in the build out of the ’67 Corvette and launch of the ‘68 at St. Louis; hence, John’s love and passion for Corvette and his never ending endeavors to preserve and share Corvette knowledge with fellow enthusiasts.

John’s work with friend, former mentor and GM Vice President/Group Executive, Alex Mair and team, resulted in a collaboration that offered improvements in precision manufacturing through a patented “Net Design and Build” concept. This concept, slow to be accepted in the 60’s but in wide use today, brought the manufacturing and assembly process requirements back into design of the parts, dies and assembly tooling from the beginning, minimizing or eliminating traditional gaps, shims and dimensional variations.

John has published hundreds of Corvette technical articles in industry respected magazines and has been a frequent contributor to the NCRS “Corvette Restorer” magazine, which achieved the Golden Quill award. He is a 200-level NCRS Master Judge, veteran Bloomington Gold Certification Judge and Corvette Restoration Workshop Instructor, and member of the Solid Axle Corvette Club. He has also penned numerous technical articles for internal GM publications, trade journals.

Corvette Hall of Fame Inductees Anthony (Tony) DeLorenzo and Gerald (Jer) Thompson recognized for their team efforts driving Corvette race cars, possessed the perfect combination of consistency and determination that allowed them to sweep the A/Production calendar clean. Thompson, a Chevrolet engineer, and DeLorenzo, a public relations executive, created a charismatic combination that resulted in wins in 22 straight races over a two year period. This dynamic duo finished one/two 14 times in the races where they entered two Owens-Corning Fiberglas (OCF) cars.

Tony and Jer were a unique team that utilized their individual talents and skills to make the OCF team the success it became. Both drivers contributed greatly to obtain sponsor support, gather team volunteers to campaign the cars, develop race worthy cars, analyze failures, and drive. Both had many years of racing under their belts before the Owens-Corning Fiberglas opportunity happened. Thompson began racing in 1961 campaigning a 1956 Corvette in club racing events in and around Detroit, and finishing 1st in his class at Waterford Hills Race Track in 1962. From 1962 to 1966 Jer campaigned a Yenko Stinger Corvair and became friends with the legendary Don Yenko, and developed yet another friendship with his soon to be racing partner Tony DeLorenzo.

Tony began his racing career in 1964 when he completed his driver’s school at Watkins Glen, NY at age 21. He was a good student and by 1966, he posted third place in the SCCA Central Division A/Sedan point standings in his 1965 Corvair. In ’67, he switched to an L-88 Vette and finished second in the SCCA Central Division A/Production class, and second in the American Road Race of Champions at Daytona. The two men, driving individually and as a team, honed their driving skills in preparation for entering bigger, more competitive racing venues such as the FIA races in Daytona and Sebring. In 1968, both had established themselves as race drivers.

Jer was able to seal a sponsorship deal with Sunray DX Oil Company for the 1968 Daytona 24 Hour race. With drivers already in place for Sunray DX, the PR talents of Tony helped convince Detroit Chevy dealer Hanley Dawson, Jr. to provide support which included all the parts to build a ’68 L-88 Convertible. This event put the duo into big time racing. Their racing success with a two car A/Production Corvette team in spring and summer of 1968 led to a sponsorship at a new level with Owens-Corning Fiberglas, where they would dominate SCCA racing for the next three years.

Their success in FIA long distance races included a 1st place finish in Grand Touring and 7th overall in 1969 at the Watkins Glen 6 Hour; 1st place finish in Grand Touring and 6th overall in 1970 at the 24 Hours of Daytona; 1st in Grand Touring and 10th overall in the 1970 Sebring 12 Hour; and a 4th overall and 1st in GT finish at the 1971 24 Hours of Daytona. After the adventures with OCF, each stayed involved in racing but more often as competitors than as teammates. Today both men are involved with building and racing vintage Corvettes and sports cars, and their significant contributions to the Corvette marque and racing heritage lives on through their willingness to share lessons learned.

The National Corvette Museum established the Corvette Hall of Fame in 1998. The purpose is to confer the highest honor and recognition upon the most influential individuals in the history of the Corvette. The award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to their respective fields, each having reached the highest level of accomplishment.

Inductees must also reflect the highest standards of integrity and character to positively enhance the prestige of the Corvette and the National Corvette Museum.

Additional information on reserving a spot at the prestigious Corvette Hall of Fame banquet will be available in the coming months via the website at: www.corvettemuseum.org or can be obtained by subscribing to the weekly eNewsletter “NCM eNews” at: http://www.corvettemuseum.org/ncmenews/index.shtml

The National Corvette Museum is a member-driven, non-profit foundation dedicated to educating the public through the preservation of the Corvette’s past, present and future heritage. Open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT, the Museum is located at Exit 28 off I-65 in Bowling Green, KY.
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