Legends: Ed Cole

Many men have had a hand in running the largest auto company in the world, but few were as un-status quo as Ed Cole.

Articulate, daring, decisive and charismatic, he could have been known for his devotion to safety while president of General Motors. Or he could have been known for his devotion to speed as chief engineer at Chevrolet, including the fact he pushed the Corvette Sting Ray into production. Instead, he was known for who he was. “He got people to do big things,” read the official announcement when Cole was inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame in 1998. “He thought big. He talked big. He got people to do big things.” Cole got into the auto business after attending the General Motors Institute, a school for aspiring GM engineers. He quickly caught the eye of senior management and they persuaded him to leave before graduating. Cole spent 47 years with GM and just 10 years at the Chevrolet division. During that decade, Cole did the most. After rising through the ranks, he became Chevy’s chief engineer in May, 1952 at 43 and just in time to oversee the design of a new overhead valve V8 for the division: the birth of the “small-block” Chevrolet engine (above). Under Cole’s leadership, GM tripled the engineering staff at Chevrolet, allowed more freedom in design and engine work and Chevrolet became more involved in auto racing. Cole believed that if Chevy was successful on the track on Sundays, it had to win in the showrooms on Mondays. Cole also urged GM design chief Bill Mitchell to graft curvaceous lines on the Corvette after three years of sluggish sales. It was called the Sting Ray. Cole brought engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov on board and replaced the original six-cylinder engine with his new V8. Cole left Chevrolet to become GM’s group vice president in 1961. Four years later he was an executive vice president and two years after that was at the top of GM. From there, Cole continued to do ambitious projects in the area of safety and fuel economy. He was an advocate of stouter bumpers, catalytic converters (to reduce emissions) and air bags as GM took the lead in research and development. And just when it seemed he had solved the world’s problems and tackled the big issues, Cole stepped away from GM to become Chairman of Checker Motors where he planned to launch an air-cargo business. Tragically, three years later in 1977, he died in a light-plane crash.