Elfi Arkus-Duntov, wife of the late Zora Arkus-Duntov, died on October 23 in Michigan at the age of 93. If you don't know who Zora Arkus-Duntov was, go to the Import Tuner website. Zora was the first chief engineer of the Corvette and while he has been mistakenly called the "father of the Corvette," he was really the godfather, adopting the little-loved sportscar when it was a baby in 1953 and turning it into a world-class champion. Elfi was his wife and she was with Zora through many of his Chevrolet adventures over the years, including riding shotgun up Pikes Peak in a camouflaged '56 Chevy in ’55 when it set a numerous records there.  

Born Elfi Wolff in Germany, she was always by Zora's side after his retirement, accompanying him to untold number of Corvette shows over the years. A stunning beauty in her youth, she was a professional model and dancer with the Follies Bergere in Paris, and with the June Taylor dancers at the Copa Cobana in Miami, Florida.

When Zora set off to Pikes Peak in ’55, she helped before the official event by working a stopwatch while he wheeled the  2-door ’56 up the dangerous mountain switchbacks, where one wrong turn could mean death. But she was always a spirited woman .

I had the pleasure of meeting her in the early 1990s and even interviewing her for a story for Vette magazine. She was nothing but charming and continued to make appearances at various Corvette shows after Zora's death until her health curtailed her ability to travel.