Posted on 04/18/2024 1:26:01 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Corvette's executive chief engineer waves the checkered flag just as his masterpiece—the new ZR1—debuts this summer.
Tadge Juechter, the Corvette's executive chief engineer since 2006, has announced his retirement. Juechter's career with General Motors spanned 47 years, most of which were spent in the Corvette division. He led the development of the C7 and C8 generations, with the latter effectively making him the godfather of the mid-engined Corvette that debuted for 2020. Since 1993, Tadge Juechter has been involved with one of the most iconic sports cars in the world: the Chevy Corvette. By 1999, he was named assistant chief engineer, and in 2006 he became the head honcho—executive chief engineer of Corvette—a position he has held until the present time.
Juechter officially retires this summer. That's right: The godfather of the C7 and C8 Corvette today said he's waving the checkered flag, and it will come just as his masterpiece, the new twin-turbo ZR1, debuts to the world.
Tadge Juechter: A Corvette Engineering Icon
Here at Car and Driver, we've been writing about Corvettes since we were called Sports Cars Illustrated back in the '50s, which is to say a long damn time. Naturally, we've pretty much covered every generation, so we've gotten to know Juechter very well, especially over the past couple of decades. Our own Don Sherman, who himself retired several years ago, even rode along with Juechter in six generations of Vettes in 2014. During the drive, the Corvette boss revealed on video that he was a longtime C/D reader since childhood, reading each issue cover to cover and even memorizing it. (Thanks, Tadge, and we're a big fan of yours too.)
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Play Iconpreview for Don Sherman and Tadge in the C6 Corvette Back in 2018, when the anticipation around the upcoming mid-engined Corvette was beyond palpable, we again had the chance to ride shotgun with the car's top engineer. We also spoke with Juechter numerous other times during the C8's development, as he was arguably the mid-engined Vette's biggest champion.
"[He's] the most important Corvette chief engineer since Zora Arkus-Duntov." -Rich Ceppos, GM alum As the story goes, Juechter initially sold GM vice chairman Bob Lutz and chairman Rick Wagoner on the idea, but it was put on the back burner because of the Great Recession and GM's 2009 bankruptcy. That's when all Corvette development was paused, with the C7 eventually being built with the traditional front-engine layout. Still, he continued to fight for a mid-engined car, with engineering beginning in 2006 and finally becoming reality for 2020.
Our own Rich Ceppos, who's had illustrious careers at both C/D and GM, was in many meetings with Tadge and joined him on a lot of development rides. About the Corvette guru, Ceppos said this:
"Tadge was articulate and personable dealing with the media and the public, but inside GM he was all business, a whirlwind of quiet competence and astute leadership, grinding it out every day. The measure of a great chief engineer isn’t just a thorough understanding of physics or thermodynamics—or even a detailed knowledge of the desires of customers. It’s their ability to get their company to produce great cars. Tadge got the huge and often recalcitrant GM organization to do just that, which makes him the most important Corvette chief engineer since Zora Arkus-Duntov."
A 47-Year Career Ends on a High Note
Of course, the list of Juechter's accomplishments during his 47 years working for General Motors are too long to list. His career started at GM’s Assembly Division in Lordstown, Ohio, in 1977. He then held many roles across the company, before joining the Corvette team in '93. And the rest is history.
Regarding his retirement announcement, he said this in a press release: “It’s been the honor of a lifetime to work at this company, leading the men and women who have brought to life one of the most iconic and recognizable vehicles in recent American history. Their tenacity and ability to push what is possible with every variant and generation of Corvette was inspiring to see. I know the future of the nameplate is in the right hands.”
GM says Juechter's successor will be announced at a later date. For now, he's sticking around until sometime later this summer, likely when Chevy pulls the cover off his magnum opus: the new ZR1. The debut of the ultimate Corvette to date has been teased, with Chevy giving us an earful of its scintillating exhaust note, which will come from a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 making possibly more than 800 horsepower.
While we're sad to see a legend like Tadge Juechter retire, we're very grateful for his decades-long contributions—not only to Corvette fans, but to all types of car enthusiasts. With the ZR1 reveal likely doubling as an unofficial send-off, there's no doubt he's going out on a high note.
I’m amazed they still make Corvettes
They are nice looking cars, but not very useful in the Northeast with the snow and the Dem run states that divert highway funds to social programs and leave the roads potted liked they’ve been bombed.
Even the handful of times you might find a decent road and warm weather, what fun is it driving 55 mph?
suprised they still make Les Pauls?
You consider the mid-engined Corvette to be a “nice looking car”? I would agree its performance and value are notable, but “nice looking”? Not to me. Like others, I’ve observed it gives the impression of being the offspring of an 90’s Ferrari or Lamborghini that mated with a Japanese origami creation.
A co worker has one of those, hard to find an ugly Ferrari.
Yabut, how easy is it to find parts?
You ca get parts, and when you only drive them a couple thousand miles a year they don't need much.
Corvette C8 ZO6 has MSRP of $110,100 but some have sold for double that with markups. There’s a 2023 with 500 miles near me for sale on Carfax for $198,000.
Sorry, Z06
To me the last Corvette with real Corvette charisma was the C4. After that they don’t quite have the X factor despite having some pretty amazing performance, and then with the mid engine it’s not really the same car in my book. That said, hats off to Tadge Juechter and his amazing career.
thx to BBB333 and Red Badger
It's the problem with any "sporty" car. You have to drive it with restraint, so good-bye fun.
A long time ago, a friend lent me his Corvette for a test drive. I was impressed by what it did easily, without skidding or noise. The speed limits were obviously too low for this car. I had to keep reminding myself to avoid testing the car's limits. The car was very willing, but...
RESTRAINT.
I saw this guy once on Leno’s Garage once.
He seemed like a really cool person.
Reminded me Clint Eastwood a little..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqImnIAZwjg
Tadge Juechter with Jay Leno
That was an interesting episode
He's quite a guy. Zora Arkus-Duntov's successor.
I see most every week some guy with a newish C8 putting around the neighborhood. That motor sound amazing.
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