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| Tadge Juechter with his father, Mat Juechter at the Museum on November 20, 2013 for the R8C Museum Delivery of Mat's brand new C7 |
On a recent visit to the National Corvette Museum, Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter took a moment to speak with us about his 2014 Man of the Year award from Automobile Magazine. It is no coincidence that this man’s creation, the 2014 Corvette Stingray, also earned top honors by being awarded the designation of Automobile Magazine’s 2014 Car of the Year.
On receiving this honor, Tadge was humble as always saying, “Well the man of the year recognition is really a symbol of what the team has accomplished. It’s a little embarrassing for me because it's totally a team sport and I'm just the lucky guy who happens to be in charge that gets to pick up this award.”
Born in Laredo,
Texas, as part of an Air Force family who frequently moved, Tadge earned
degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering and an MBA at Stanford. Working
for GM for two summers in college convinced him of one thing: he didn't want to
work at GM. Today, he considers the term "GM lifer" a badge of honor.
The introduction of
the new 2014 Corvette Stingray was well received by most, bringing in various
awards and accolades, but even so, the Automobile Magazine article states, "Corvette
critics can be harsh, and those complaints are rarely unfounded. Some will
contend that Chevy's engineers should not be applauded for simply fixing all
the stuff that was wrong in previous versions. But Juechter's team did far more
than finally bolt in decent seats..." The article also hails the car as
being full of thoughtful engineering, innovative technology and awe-inspiring
design.“You know, we've been nearly a full year now of almost continuous media coverage, starting with the long lead media previews before we even introduced the car in Detroit,” says Tadge. “So basically last November all the way through now, we've been in the media spotlight, you know kind of feeding out bits of information, and basically showcasing what the car is and I think it really captures people's imagination. Not just the automotive press but also the popular press, the national and international press.”
Watch the interview with Tadge below or on the YouTube website here.
