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Jeff.Dunhams.The.Cars.That.Drove.Us.S01E04.540p.X265.AAC [Full Movie] [Trending]Full EP - Full
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00:00Hi everybody, Jeff Dunham and Walter at Dunham Family Motors.
00:03I'm not in your family. How are you, Walter?
00:05How do you think I am? It's just 60s and I'm an old guy.
00:08And you look like a hippie. Well, I like it. Get a haircut.
00:11Some things are just American.
00:13Baseball, corn dogs, asking to speak to the manager, and this.
00:18America didn't invent the sports car, but we sure made it louder, shinier, and a lot more fun.
00:23Fiberglass wrapped around horsepower.
00:25A declaration of independence.
00:26And yeah, this one stole the spotlight, but the story starts before the car, and it doesn't end there either.
00:32This is the tale of the first three generations of an automobile that was the red, white, and blueprint of
00:38an American icon.
00:39That's right. It's our 68 convertible Corvette Stingray.
00:43All fireglass showing ways next to nothing. Take a spin on this, baby Walter.
00:49Throughout time, humanity has been obsessed with getting places using anything but their own two feet.
00:55We've tried all kinds of things, until finally, the greatest invention of all time, the automobile.
01:04Moron!
01:06These are the cars that drove us.
01:12Americans are, if anything, decisive.
01:15They want their pie full of apples, they want their jeans to be blue, and their birds to be bald.
01:20But most important, Americans don't just love sports cars.
01:24They love the C.
01:25Not that C.
01:27We're talking the Corvette.
01:29C1, C2, C3.
01:31Which are indeed sodden with nautical tails.
01:34Trust me, you'll see.
01:35Well, the Chevrolet Corvette is America's sports car.
01:38It's the car of choice for everyone from Dominic Toretto to Barbie.
01:43Barbie Corvette, now I'm driving for real.
01:46Even alien robots are transforming into Corvettes.
01:49Clear it, right.
01:50This is a good story that you'll like.
01:52Because when it came to the Corvette, it was love at first sight.
01:55When the Corvette was first introduced, it was essentially a failure.
01:59Okay, maybe not love at first sight.
02:02But trust me, this is a love story.
02:04But to tell it, we need to go back a century.
02:07Automotive design in the 20s and 30s in the United States was very mundane.
02:11Cars weren't sleek, and they definitely weren't sexy.
02:14But all that changed in 1928 when General Motors opened a new department.
02:19Art and color.
02:20The art and color department marked a seismic shift in how cars were made.
02:25It was actually the first internal design team for a major corporation.
02:30The guy that made it happen was probably the Leonardo da Vinci of car design, Harley Earl.
02:35While Harley and Earl sound like two guys you'd want to crack open a beer with,
02:39it was, in fact, the name of one legendary designer.
02:42Harley Earl was a visionary.
02:43He wanted to change the whole idea of what the automobile was,
02:47to make it exciting, something that was more than transportation.
02:51He made cars emotional.
02:53While the GM engineers focused on efficiency, art and color had their own priorities.
02:58Design, vision, exploration, development.
03:01You're testing out new ideas.
03:03And one of their biggest ideas?
03:04The Buick Y-job.
03:06A dozen years of automotive progress telescoped into one effort.
03:09The Y-job pushed the rules of design as well as technology,
03:13featuring never-before-seen concepts like retractable headlights.
03:17All first by General Motors.
03:19Harley Earl had invented the concept car, but a follow-up would have to wait.
03:24That's right when World War II was about to kick off.
03:26The German cast his fires about the globe.
03:29And then it sort of went silent on concept cars.
03:33Harley Earl was a big supporter of the U.S. military.
03:37And the U.S. military was a big supporter of victory.
03:41Meanwhile, Europe experienced a sports car explosion.
03:45But one British car stood out of the pack.
03:48The Jaguar XK120.
03:50Not only did the XK120 have the looks, with a top speed of 120 miles per hour.
03:56This is the fastest production car in the world.
03:58Harley wanted to throw his hat into the sports car ring, opening the door to...
04:02The Corvette.
04:03Eh, not yet.
04:04But Harley Earl did make his first sports car.
04:07LeSabre, 1951.
04:09We're at the beginning of the space race.
04:11Harley Earl's doing cars that look like jets.
04:14It was such a load of fun.
04:16The success of the LeSabre concept car opened the door for...
04:19The Motorama.
04:22Designed to promote the future of General Motors,
04:24the Motorama put their new automotive technologies right in front of the American public.
04:29The rest of the industry, the only way they could communicate was through black and white photos in the newspaper.
04:34Harley Earl always said that the Motorama was the best advertisement for GM ever conceived.
04:39GM had turned marketing into show-stopping entertainment.
04:42Because at the Motorama, people got to see cars in a whole different way.
04:46They also finally got to see...
04:48The very first Corvette was shown as a concept.
04:52The promise of tomorrow.
04:54This is the mood of the Motorama.
04:56A promise made explicit by customized cars, such as this Chevrolet Corvette.
05:00And thanks to the Motorama campaign...
05:02The reaction was so strong that it went into production shortly thereafter.
05:06Within months, it had Corvettes available for sale.
05:10And just like that, Harley Earl had pushed General Motors into the hyper-competitive world of sports cars.
05:16It was a stylistic approach, which of course was Earl's background.
05:20It was a two-seater, it was a convertible.
05:22It was sort of modernized styling, wrapped around green screen and everything.
05:25The Corvette looked just as good as any European sports car.
05:28But was it faster?
05:30I mean, it was not even in the ballpark.
05:32And the difference wasn't in Corvette's favor.
05:34The Corvette was very, very simplified to keep the cost down.
05:38It was a fairly primitive car.
05:40The first Corvette only had a two-speed transmission.
05:44It had a very sort of anemic six-cylinder engine.
05:47Those qualities that existed in the best European sports cars...
05:51Like the Jaguar XK120.
05:53...were not available in the very first Corvettes.
05:56This isn't some high-tech sports car.
05:58Tell you the truth, it doesn't even handle that great.
06:00The Corvette was only at the start line, and it was choking.
06:03There would be people high-level in the corporation who wanted to cancel the Corvette.
06:07The Corvette was not a huge seller.
06:09And GM really didn't take it seriously.
06:11It was essentially a failure.
06:13The Corvette was in trouble.
06:15But help was coming.
06:16And as irony would have it, it would be a European that would hold the key to saving America's sports
06:21car.
06:22All right, let's go.
06:25The Corvette's tepid sales record might have resulted in the car being retired.
06:29But 1957 would be the year that changed everything.
06:34Harley Earl was retiring.
06:36Harley had always protected his teams, so his staff had good reason to express their concerns.
06:42But no reason to fret.
06:44Harley Earl had a succession plan.
06:46Bill Mitchell, his right-hand man, was going to take over as the director of styling.
06:51When it came to Harley Earl's fledgling sports car, no one was more passionate about the Corvette than...
06:56Zora Dunthoff.
06:58Zora was incredible.
07:00The Belgium native studied engineering by day.
07:02And by night...
07:03Dunthoff was a race car driver.
07:06Zora would go on to race for Porsche and work as an engineer for Allard in America, where he would
07:11see the Motorama debut of the Corvette.
07:13Zora saw Corvette and said, I want to work for a company that builds a car like that.
07:18But it wasn't blind fandom.
07:19Zora realized what the potential was, and also what was so deficient.
07:24He wrote GM a letter saying that he can make a better car.
07:28The result?
07:29GM hired Zora to change the direction and improve cars in terms of drivability and safety and performance.
07:37So basically everything.
07:38And that's exactly what he did.
07:40Working under Harley Earl to improve the Corvette.
07:43And it quickly got manual transmissions.
07:46It got the small block Chevy V8.
07:48Zora's upgrades were a step towards realizing Harley Earl's vision for the Corvette.
07:53The things that he wanted to do did not always align with the corporate ideas, but there were enough people
07:59there that understood what he was trying to do and backed him.
08:03As a result, wizard engineer Zora Dunthoff became the director of high-performance vehicles, and design guru Bill Mitchell would
08:10become the director of styling.
08:13Harley's heirs were in place and ready to shape the Corvette, more specifically, the SS Corvette, the concept car was
08:21a chance for Bill to make a statement and for Zora to bring some much-needed muscle to the Corvette.
08:26Ed Cole, who was behind the V8 engine project, put that engine in the Corvette and completely changed the whole
08:34idea of what the car was.
08:36With Ed Cole's engine, the Corvette was finally faster than the Jaguar XK120.
08:41But perhaps it was too fast.
08:44General Motors were really concerned that they were going to have legal problems.
08:49More speed meant more danger.
08:52And they decided, we've got to get out. This is the wrong way for us to go.
08:56Rather than wait for government regulation, top automakers took action.
09:00They came in with an agreement called the American Automobile Manufacturers Association.
09:06Ban on performance. So there was no more advertising that wrote about great performance.
09:12No more engineering. Cut off everything.
09:15And that was June of 57. Right after this great car had been developed, that was almost the end of
09:22the whole Corvette program.
09:24Which meant, as the head of performance, Zora had been benched.
09:27But at least he had more time for his hobbies.
09:30Zora was known to drink quite a bit and also be a womanizer.
09:35Okay. Meanwhile, Holly Earle's other protege took the opportunity to visit Italy.
09:40The Turin show inspired him to come back to the United States and say, we're doing this Corvette program all
09:47wrong.
09:48Let's do it more like the Europeans. Performance. Great styling.
09:52Which would be hard, considering the current state of affairs.
09:56Bill Mitchell said, bull.
09:58Bull.
09:59Bull.
10:00We're going to do a new Corvette and we're going to make it a success.
10:03It wasn't something Bill Mitchell could openly work on in styling.
10:07He needed to be discreet.
10:08Advanced design existed literally and figuratively in GM's basement.
10:13And that's exactly where Bill Mitchell went.
10:15He came downstairs and there were four young guys in there.
10:19And Peter Brock should know, he was one of them.
10:22I was very, very fortunate of coming into General Motors as a designer at 19, which was as young as
10:28anybody had ever gone into that industry.
10:31Advanced design was the place where young talent could move up.
10:33But on that day, GM's top designer was coming down.
10:37He walked in and started telling us what he'd done over in Turin.
10:42You can feel his enthusiasm, his desire, his passion for the automobile.
10:47Peter soon realized he wasn't having a conversation.
10:49He was being recruited.
10:51We were going to do this whole car in secret.
10:53Bill Mitchell was leading a Corvette program completely against management's wishes.
10:58And we're going, God, this is incredible.
11:01Mitchell laid out his vision for the C2.
11:04At stake, a one-way ticket out of GM's basement.
11:07There's three or four of us in there and we're all competing with each other.
11:11Several sketches were produced, but only one would change the course of automotive history.
11:16He picked out the sketch that I'd done in November of 1957 as the direction that we were going to
11:23build for the new Corvette.
11:24But enough word got up to management that there was something going on in this advanced concept studio downstairs.
11:31GM's bad news bears had been caught red-handed.
11:34I can't imagine how surprised they were to see this really incredible-looking car going ahead totally against their wishes.
11:43The secret alliance dedicated to saving the Corvette had been exposed.
11:48And though Bill Mitchell didn't have Harley Earl-level clout, he had enough to keep the project alive with two
11:54stipulations.
11:55You cannot call it the Corvette and you'll have to pay for it yourself.
11:59Pay for it yourself?
12:00I've heard of pay cuts, but an employee paying his boss is a new one.
12:04Obviously, Bill Mitchell told GM...
12:06Okay, I'll do that.
12:08Wait, what?
12:08Well, if he's paying for it, at least he'll own it.
12:11No.
12:12But he could get reimbursed.
12:13No.
12:14Either Bill Mitchell hated money or he loved the Corvette.
12:17Consequently, we got to continue the program.
12:20And when it came time to bring Peter Sketch to life, the team needed a new hideout.
12:25Studio X was very secret.
12:28Hardly anyone even knew where it was.
12:31Because the newest designs must be kept confidential until just the right moment, the stylists work in rooms that are
12:37constantly locked.
12:38And after two years, Bill Mitchell's Not A Corvette was complete.
12:43Bill had to come up with a new name for the car.
12:45For inspiration, Bill turned to his second love.
12:48One of his pastimes was to go deep sea fishing.
12:51And admired all these beautiful creatures that he'd seen.
12:55Decided he was going to call it the Stingray.
12:58Huh?
12:58We had power.
12:59We had performance.
13:00And most important, we had fantastic appeal for the American market.
13:05If you don't mind my saying so, that is a gorgeous hunk of automobile you're driving.
13:09Glad you like it.
13:10The public response to that car on first scene was that somebody had come down from outer space.
13:16I mean, that was how far ahead that design was.
13:18The Stingray concept car was a smash hit.
13:21The amount of publicity that came out on that car convinced management.
13:25They allowed Bill Mitchell to go ahead and develop the car as a production car.
13:29And about that name.
13:31You cannot put the Corvette name on.
13:33But with GM's blessing, the Stingray became the Corvette Stingray, a.k.a. the C2.
13:39Nearly a decade since the debut of Harley Earl's C1, no one knew how people would react when GM pulled
13:45back the curtain on.
13:46The completely new Stingray.
13:48Beautiful.
13:49Sunsets are beautiful.
13:50Newborn babies are beautiful.
13:51This, this is spectacular.
13:53If you look at the sketch done from 1957 to the car that came out in 1963, it's the same
13:59automobile.
14:00Not so fast, Peter.
14:01There was one glaring difference.
14:03Bill Mitchell took the large rear window, which I designed.
14:06I decided to split the rear window.
14:09Harley Earl fought to keep the C1 alive so Bill Mitchell could fight to introduce the C2.
14:14But was it worth it?
14:16You couldn't build them fast enough for the American market.
14:19Chevrolet recommitted themselves to the Corvette, making some welcome year two improvements.
14:24Bill Mitchell was open to modifying any part of the C2, as long as they didn't touch.
14:29The split window.
14:29That's one of the high points of Corvette design, Bill Mitchell personally put into it.
14:34There was just one problem.
14:36Zora hated it.
14:38The split window had created a new split on the Corvette team.
14:41Bill was more interested in building automobiles that were attractive to people.
14:46He didn't really have the engineering understanding that Zora had.
14:49And consequently, there was always a political conflict between these two great guys in the Corvette program.
14:55In one corner, GM styling.
14:58Their opponent, engineering.
15:01Time to fight.
15:02Next year, in 64, it went back to the full window.
15:05But Bill got the design for one year.
15:07It was a big win for Team Zora.
15:09A decision many on Team Bill resent to this day.
15:13I was not a part of taking the split window off.
15:15I would have never have done that.
15:16But the dueling department heads needed to work together as a new threat to the Corvette emerged.
15:22Because to tell that story, we need to go back in time to 1959, where Bill Mitchell was once again
15:28fishing.
15:29Only this time...
15:30He wheeled in a shark.
15:32Does this guy ever just catch a trout?
15:34He just loved that flowing shape of the shark.
15:38You know, the shark is a high-performance animal, really.
15:41Bill's catch of the day would go on to inspire the 1961 concept car, the Mako Shark.
15:46He was enamored with how the color of the shark was graded from dark to bright silver.
15:52He had the truck that he caught actually stuffed.
15:55And he brought it down to the paint shop and said, guys, match this color scheme.
16:00Yes, sir, Mr. Mitchell.
16:01Once completed, Bill Mitchell rushed out to see the finishing touch on his Mako Shark.
16:06He came down and said, nope, that's not it.
16:09Look at the shark.
16:10You guys don't have it yet.
16:11They went at it a second time.
16:13And as they say, second time is the charm.
16:16Nope.
16:17That's not it.
16:18Well, third time's the charm.
16:19Nope.
16:20So fourth.
16:21Nope.
16:22Finally.
16:22Nope.
16:23Luckily, Bill Mitchell was a patient man.
16:25Bill Mitchell was not a patient man.
16:27With Bill Mitchell's patience eroding, desperate times call for desperate measures.
16:31Rather than repaint the car, they repainted the stuffed shark in the transition colors.
16:38And they invited Bill down again to review.
16:41You got it this time.
16:43But in the end, it was worth it.
16:45The excitement of General Motors was, just go.
16:48Let them run.
16:49Giving Bill Mitchell the opening he needed to take a concept to production.
16:54He said, we have the Mako 2.
16:56Let's use that as the theme for the 68 Corvette.
17:01And off we went.
17:04Chevrolet had challenged head engineer Zora Duntoff and head of style Bill Mitchell to create the next generation Corvette.
17:11As you can imagine, if you're saying you're going to introduce an all-new Corvette, the pressure is immense.
17:17It was a make-or-break moment for the Corvette and an opportunity for Zora and Bill to make their
17:22mark.
17:22But what Zora wanted, and what Bill wanted, seldom aligned.
17:26When Chevrolet saw the first clay models of that design, the engineers were very much against it.
17:34Zora and Bill fought over everything, from fenders...
17:37For particularly a short driver, you couldn't see over the high-peak fenders.
17:41...to engine placement.
17:42One of Zora's dreams had always been to do a mid-engine version of the Corvette.
17:47We first saw that so-called rear-engine revolution, even though they were mid-engine, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
17:53about 1964.
17:54Mid-engine models spoke Zora's love language.
17:57The idea of mid-engine was all about performance.
17:59Mid-engine cars really made the front engine look like dinosaurs.
18:04Mid-engine appeared to be exactly what the Corvette needed.
18:07Bill Mitchell said bull...
18:09Bill Mitchell believed the Corvette had been firmly established as a front-engine car.
18:13Zora Duntoff was not going to give up on his mid-engine dream without a fight.
18:18Chevrolet's general manager...
18:19John DeLorean felt the mid-engine Corvette was the way to go, and he and Duntoff were hand-in-glove
18:25on that.
18:26All of General Motors had been sucked into the battle of Mitchell vs. Duntoff.
18:30And by split decision, GM management had declared a winner.
18:35Bill Mitchell won out.
18:37The C-3 entered production with his engine up front and party in the back.
18:41Er, well, the gas tank was in the back.
18:44C-3 was such a big statement when it came out.
18:48Man, what a ride.
18:49As it turned out, despite their different approaches, Bill and Zora's end goal was the same.
18:55They were determined to be the number one sports car in America.
18:58Created an incredible buzz.
19:00Soon the Corvette captured Hollywood's imagination...
19:02Isn't it beautiful?
19:03Oh, God!
19:04And then the world, making the C-3 the longest Corvette production run.
19:08It came out in 1968.
19:10The C-4 didn't come out until 1984.
19:12Over the course of the C-3's run, Zora committed himself to maximizing the Corvette as a performance vehicle.
19:19Thanks to its strong foundation, built by Harley Earl, Bill Mitchell, and Zora Duntoff, the Corvette would live on for
19:26generations.
19:26Then, in 2019, the impossible happened.
19:31It's time to go to mid-engine.
19:33And that's exactly what they did.
19:35The engine's back here.
19:36This is the first mid-engine Corvette.
19:39Zora's dream had been realized.
19:41That was a profound moment.
19:42When the new design came out, it was loved.
19:46It wasn't just loved, it was the car of the year.
19:49Corvette has become a world-class sports car.
19:52As to which Corvette is the best?
19:54Obviously, I like C1.
19:56C2 Corvette.
19:57Beautiful car.
19:58A C3 came out.
19:59That was like, wow.
20:00My favorite Corvettes, the C2, the C5, the C7, and the C8.
20:04You and this car were made for each other.
20:07And while there may be no clear winner, what is clear is...
20:10Corvette has always been the pride of America.
20:14There's a handful of cars that make you just proud of the red, white, and blue.
20:19Corvette has to be at the top of that list.
20:22And there's it fun.
20:24But if you think that's the end of the Corvette story...
20:27Here for a ride?
20:28Bill and Zora would surely agree that's...
20:30Bull.
20:31Bull.
20:39I'll kill you!
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