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Ed Cole
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Edward Nicholas Cole (Marne, Michigan, September 17 1909 – May 2 1977 in Mendon, Michigan) was an automotive executive for General Motors.
The son of a dairy farmer, Cole aspired to be an automotive engineer and enrolled in General Motors Institute. He was such a bright student, he was offered a job at GM before he graduated. He worked in engineering, rising to co-head a team (with Harry Barr) that developed the 1949 Cadillac V8.
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Edward Nicholas Cole (Marne, Michigan, September 17 1909 – May 2 1977 in Mendon, Michigan) was an automotive executive for General Motors.
The son of a dairy farmer, Cole aspired to be an automotive engineer and enrolled in General Motors Institute. He was such a bright student, he was offered a job at GM before he graduated. He worked in engineering, rising to co-head a team (with Harry Barr) that developed the 1949 Cadillac V8. He was briefly assigned to run a GM plant in Cleveland, Ohio, when Chevrolet general manager Tom Keating requested his assignment as chief engineer.
He became chief engineer of the Chevrolet Division in 1952. His most important task was to develop a new engine for Chevy's lineup to replace the stove-bolt six; that new engine was Chevrolet's famous small-block V8. It remained in production for more than 40 years, and still remains a mainstay in auto racing and hot-rodding. He collaborated with Zora Arkus-Duntov to revitalize the weak-performing early Corvettes, and was responsible for the 1955-1957 "tri-five" or "shoebox" Chevies, which remain popular with car enthusiasts today.
Cole was promoted to general manager of Chevrolet in 1956. During these years, Chevy was a perennial sales leader, but with only larger cars in the lineup. As general manager of Chevrolet, he directed the development of the Corvair intended to pursue the youth market with an inexpensive, sporty compact. Early model Corvairs were prone to tricky handling characteristics that resulted many roll-over accidents. When consumer advocate Ralph Nader wrote a report on the Corvair in his book Unsafe At Any Speed in 1965, General Motors attempted to discredit him by hiring private detectives to investigate his personal life.
Cole was promoted to head the GM car and truck group in 1961, then to executive vice-president in 1965, and to president in 1967.
He directed the GM design staff in developing GM's first four passenger vehicle, the Chevrolet Vega. He retired from the corporation in 1974. He was tragically killed in an airplane crash in 1977.
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