Hi Folks. Being an Ardun enthusiast myself, couldn't resist adding a
little something to my friend ArdunDoug's message.
I had the pleasure (and privilege) of a one-hour interview with Zora
Arkus-Duntov on August 25, 1995 at the Corvettes-at-Carlisle(PA) Meet
when he and his charming wife Elfi were there to sign autographs for the
Corvette guys.
During the interview, he told me many interesting things, but here, just
a couple:
l. FoMoCo had nothing to do with the Ardun heads. Zora had thought
about designing a performance cylinder head conversion for the Ford V8
in the 1930s when he was still in Europe, but it was 1947 before he was
in a position to do it. He and his brother did the design work at their
firm in New York, and Zora arranged the manufacturing work in England,
where high-class engineering was then much cheaper than here.
2. Zora told me very clearly that "about 300" sets of Ardun heads were
made for the 24 stud Flathead V8, plus 30 sets of heads for the V8-60.
There you have it, from the horse's mouth.
Zora died a few months later, and his ashes are interred at the Corvette
Museum in KY.
ArdunBill Hoddinott
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