Corvette Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter retiring this summer

Ignore the titles, what matters is that five men have been synonymous with shepherding new Chevrolet Corvettes to market during the American icon's 71 years: Zora Arkus-Duntov (1967-1975), Dave McLellan (1975-1992), Dave Hill (1992-2006), Tom Wallace (2006-2008), and Tadge Juechter (2006-2023). Juechter, the man when it came to any media outlet or Corvette fan trying to understand the last three generations of Corvette engineering, philosophy, and aspirations, is retiring this summer. When he departs GM's Renaissance Center in a few months, it will be the end of a 47-year career at the company.

The note about titles is important because it points to how Juechter's influence reaches beyond what's on his business card. The five men listed above are generally called Corvette chief engineers, often as part of the statement that Corvette has only had five chief engineers, which is mostly true. Harley Earl, the legendary designer who had the original idea for the Corvette, led a team of designers working with Maurice Olley as head of chassis development and Ed Cole, father of the small block V8, as head of powertrain. Arkus-Duntov didn't join GM until May 1953 — invited by Olley, hired by Cole, after writing GM a letter about how to fulfill the slow-selling Corvette's potential — and then only as an assistant chief engineer, reporting to Olley, who reported to Cole. Arkus-Duntov got promoted to the role of director of high performance vehicles for Chevrolet in 1957 and was instrumental in developing the C2, but he didn't earn the title of Corvette chief engineer until 1967. Before that year, the title of Corvette chief engineer didn't exist, making Duntov the first. 

Take Wallace, who became the Corvette's vehicle line executive and chief engineer on January 1, 2006, but only held the engineer role for seven months — and Dave Hill's Wikipedia page doesn't even give Wallace credit for that short stint. In July of 2006, GM promoted Juechter from being assistant chief engineer of the Corvette to chief engineer for the Corvette and the related Cadillac XLR, reporting to vehicle line executive Wallace. Wallace's tenure as the man in charge of then-current and future Corvette