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Chef Jake Olson’s versatility is clear in the multiple talents he brings to the field as a chef, restaurateur, nightclub manager, and beverage director.

Jake discovered his culinary identity later in life, hitting the ignition in the kitchen
in 2004, and taking a very museum approach to begin his culinary journey—self-learning. This included devouring hundreds of cookbooks, online courses, and honing his skills through practice and trial.

The zest for learning brought him to The Palace Theater in Louisville as a server and bartender, where he quickly realized the opportunity to create an approachable, elevated menu that included a fun dose of creative genius to capitalize on special events. Further pitstops on his resume during this era included owning and operating Bowling Green, KY, restaurants such as On the Bone Chop House and Burger and Bun, along with roles as Food and Beverage Director and Chef at Indian Hills Country Club and the Bowling Green Country Club.

Like Corvette, the blending of form and func-on fueled Olson’s interest in the back of the house. Attending Western Kentucky University as an Art major with a concentration on sculpture, before graduating with a double major in Psychology and Sociology.

Olson began his tenure at the National Corvette Museum’s lauded Stingray Grill in July of 2022. He is responsible for overall management and service at the restaurant, along with expanding the menu with bold flavors like the Jalapeño Crunch Burger and Curried Chickpea Salad, along with oversight of catering for Museum events and special holiday-themed menus.

When not creating new menu items, Chef Jake lives in Bowling Green with his wife of more than 20 years Cristen, and sons Rohan, 10, Elijah, 14, and Elek, 17.

Located within the National Corvette Museum, it is a journey through the iconic history of Corvette, served with a side of culinary excellence. The menu features an array of American classics, an enticing choice of desserts, and a hand-picked assortment of beers. Every dish is prepared with the same passion and precision that goes into every Corvette. Featured on the second season of Food Network’s Guy Fieri’s All American Road Trip, the Stingray Grill is open daily from 10:00 AM to 3:00 pm CST.

The Stingray Grill is the perfect stop for a lunch that is as memorable as the cars that inspire it. Click the button to make a reservation and view the menu.

View Menu

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Joining the Museum’s display floor in the coveted ‘turntable’ display area is the 2019 Pre-Production ZR1, VIN 1G1Y52D93K50002EX – also known as the Nürburgring unofficial 7′:04″ 2019 Corvette ZR1.

Vehicle Dynamics Engineer Jim Mero and his team received this pre-production ZR1 from Bowling Green Assembly in May of 2017. By June, the team had the ZR1 at the Nürburgring and completed the Magnetic Ride Control calibration for that track, despite bad weather.

The ZR1 then returned to the United States and was used as a track development car, primarily driven at Milford Proving Grounds, Willow Springs racetrack in California, and Virginia International Raceway (VIR).

While running endurance tests for exhaust system attachments at VIR in January of 2018, Jim and his team discovered that a Ford GT had set a track record of 2′:38.6″ on the Grand Course West. Although Jim was running the Corvette tests on the full course, the team moved the ZR1 to the Grand West Course and after only five to six laps on the course, the ZR1 shattered the Ford GT record by running a 2′:37.2″ lap!

After this amazing record run at VIR, the ZR1 and Jim went back to the Nürburgring with the goal of running a sub-7-minute lap, becoming the first American car to achieve that time. Once at Nürburgring, Jim and the team discovered that the protocol for the run had changed and they would not get a warm-up lap. Starting the lap on cold tires and never having them properly warm during the run, Jim was able to make the lap in a reported 7′:04″.

Chevrolet would never officially release the lap time, however, after retirement, Jim released the unofficial time of 7′:04″ so that the Corvette community would know what the ZR1 was capable of. Although devastated that he did not break the seven second mark due to the change in protocol, Jim still believes it is completely obtainable in the ZR1.

The Corvette is on loan from General Motors and is on display in the turntable through mid-April, after which it will be transferred to its new display location – the Nürburgring display in the Design and Engineering section of the Museum.

PLAN A VISIT

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While these daily driver Corvettes may have taken a little beating in their time, it is unlikely they have gotten to the same level of abuse as the 2005 Corvette Manufacturing Validation Build Corvette, “Number 61”

Manufacturing Validation Build (MVB) Corvettes are built prior to full public production and subjected to rigorous tests to fix problems that may occur once the car gets some miles on the drivetrain.

This MVB Corvette was one of the first for the new C6 Corvette, with VIN #00061. It was outfitted with a 4-speed automatic transmission, which was a 0-cost option for the 2005 model, and 400HP LS2 engine. The color on this Corvette is “precision red”, which was only offered for the first half of the 2005 model year.

Throughout its life span from 2005-2008, this Corvette was a test car for the development of the 6-speed automatic transmissions that made its way into the 2006 and newer Corvettes.

Even though the 2005 C6 was the most technologically advanced Corvette of its time, the 4-speed automatic transmission was being pushed to its limit under the hefty power of the LS2. During testing, this car was outfitted with a more efficient 2006 6-speed automatic transmission, and later, it was outfitted with a 2008 6-speed automatic transmission, as well as the new LS3 430HP engine.

This car paved the way for the implementation of the higher gear automatics we have enjoyed in Corvettes since.

Throughout its testing, this Corvette ran on many famous racetracks around the world, including VIR, Homestead Speedway, Spring Mountain, Moroso Motorsports Park, Roebling Road, and even on the Nürburgring in Germany.

Once testing on the drivetrain was concluded, it endured even more abuse in GM’s climatic wind tunnel, where it was subjected to extremely cold and hot temperatures to test the durability of the car under climate extremes.

Shortly after GM was finished testing this car, it found one more mission before it’s retirement…

Driving 968 miles on one of the most treacherous highways in the world.

Back in 1976, Brock Yates of Car and Driver Magazine took a Corvette Stingray along the Alaska Highway. This “Yukon Corvette” drove over 4,000 miles through gravel and mud to reach its destination in Alaska, then drove back. While the journey was tough, the Corvette made it through against all odds. It was a testament to the toughness of the Corvette. An American sports car from the late 1970s made it to Alaska, on mostly unpaved roads built during WWII.

The “Yukon Corvette” in 1976

To re-create this feat, Car and Driver Magazine used this 2005 C6 MVB Corvette.

Unfortunately for Car and Driver, the Alaskan Highway used in 1976 has since been updated and paved. Not only is it much easier to travel on, but it is now clogged with tourists and travelers of all types. So, for this re-creation, a different passage was used – the Dempster Highway.

The Alaska Highway (Southwest corner of the map) was used in 1976, The Dempster highway was used during the 2005 MVB Corvette excursion.

While this highway never hits Alaska, there are sections of this road left unpaved and wide open to the elements.

For this feat, this Corvette was outfitted with a roof rack made to hold a spare tire, as well as two 5-gallon jugs of premium fuel. Stone deflectors were added to the windshield area, as well as powerful auxiliary lights on the front bumper.

The 1976 “Yukon Corvette”

The 2005 MVB “Dempster Corvette”

Unbelievably, the Corvette made the round trip with only a cracked windshield – the original tires lasted the whole excursion.

Not only did this Corvette make the trip back to the US, but it drove 4,000 more miles to Michigan after.

This Corvette’s job ended right where it sits currently, on display at the National Corvette Museum.

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This Corvette was definitely not short on options, boasting six engines to choose from with horsepower ratings ranging from 300-435. This year also featured new transmission options, including a manual three-speed standard transmission, an optional four-speed manual transmission, and an optional three-speed automatic transmission – an upgrade from the previous two-speed automatic.

While this Corvette hit the ground running from 1968, this car faced one of the biggest hardships in the auto industry at the time – the 1973 and 1979 oil crises.

This Corvette was reshaped, reengineered, and molded to face the hardships of the time, but it was resilient. This resilience can be seen in the National Corvette Museum through the 1982 Silver Green C3 Corvette, on display as a part of the ongoing exhibit, “Unique and Rare Colors” in the famous Skydome.

This C3 Corvette shows how the car was shaped by the economy of the time. It retains the same “mako shark” styling of the C3, but also offers a glimpse into the future of Corvette.

Into the 1980s, the Corvette body was made more aerodynamic. The front nose and rear spoiler were redesigned to better cut through the air. Not only did these changes reduce drag, but it also helped bring the body back in style.

The 1980-82 Corvette body (left) was more aerodynamic than the earlier C3 Corvettes, like this 1969 Corvette (right).

In 1981, the Corvette started its move to Bowling Green, and by 1982, full Corvette production took place in the Bowling Green assembly where it is found today.

The C3, which boasted so many options in its early years, now offered only in a coupe, had only one engine and one transmission for 1982. The engine, a 350ci V8, produced 200 horsepower, an upgrade from the previous 190 horsepower found in 1981 thanks to its new fuel injection method, the “cross-fire” injection system.

The cross-fire injection also increased fuel economy to a combined 19MPG (15 city, 26 highway). It may not seem like much compared to Corvettes of today, but when the C3 was first released in 1968, the combined MPG was 12.7-13.4, with most owners at the time reporting 8-10 MPG on average.

The transmission, the 700-R4, was a new four-speed automatic transmission that was focused on keeping RPMs low, to yield better fuel efficiency. This was the first Corvette since the 1950s to only offer an automatic transmission.

But through all of these changes to submit to the fuel economy issues of the time, the Corvette maintained its identity. It kept its V8, it kept its style, and it kept its forward thinking.

For example, the 1982 Corvette featured a collector’s edition package, which was outfitted with a glass hatchback – a design that carried over to the C4 in 1984.

The 1982 Collector’s Edition hatchback

The emblem was redesigned and simplified to a checkered flag, and a Chevrolet logo. Losing the Fleur-de-lis, it was a design that would be refined slightly and carried into the C4 era.

The 1969 logo

The 1981 logo

Finally, the 1982 logo – Very similar to the C4 logo from 1984-1996

The cross fire injection system would also carry over into the first C4 Corvette, as well as other small design features such as cornering lights, that would illuminate the area to the left or right of the car when the corresponding turn signal was used.

Cornering lights located below the standard indicators.

While the 1980-1982 Corvettes are met with criticism at times due to the significant drop in power from 1968, they are Corvettes through and through. They are a survivor of the times. Some of the major muscle/sports cars of the 1960s, didn’t make it through the 1970s, but the Corvette did. That toughness is what makes this Corvette such an icon.

See this fine example of the last year of the C3 in its original color on display at the National Corvette Museum, on loan from Paula and Jerry Roy of Russell Springs, Kentucky.

Steven Teleky – Museum Educator

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Upon release of the C4, the world was incredibly excited for what the car was capable of. In the 1980s, car design was like music of time. It was out with the old, and in with the new – the newer and more technologically advanced, the better.

The early Corvette C4 featured technologies such as a fully customizable digital dashboard, electronically adjustable seats, optional heated mirrors, Bose sound system, electronic flip-up headlights, and a 4+3 manual transmission just to name a few. It was THE car of the 1980s. One of the few cars that can sum up a decade.

The Corvette C4 was one of the most technologically advanced cars of its time.

All of this technological advancement helped the new C4 sell over 51,500 units in 1984. To this day, it is the 2^nd best-selling Corvette year of all time behind the 1979 model year (53,807 units sold).

The overwhelmingly positive response to the C4 led to one of the most ambitious concept cars of all time; the 1986 Corvette Indy.

It all started with GM’s Vice President of Design at the time, Chuck Jordan. Jordan wanted to expand on the technologies found in GM road cars, as well as develop a car that used a street version of their newest racing engine, a V8 IndyCar engine with twin-turbos. Chuck Jordan found visual inspiration for the body in a rendering by Tom Peters.

One of the renders created by Tom Peters in 1985

The original Corvette Indy went from clay model to full-size show car in just six weeks, just in time for the 1986 North American International Auto Show. This show car boasted unheard-of technology for the time, including…

• A CRT-instrument display which was inspired by the digital display found on the C4.
• A drive-by-wire system, which relied on computer-tracking throttle input instead of a standard mechanical system.
• Driver and passenger door displays which regulated climate control and radio selections.

Radio and climate controls can be found on the driver and passenger doors.

• Lotus engineered suspension system which used a hydraulic system to regulate ride control, rather than shocks and springs.
• A rear-view camera… In 1986.

Rear-view cameras have been integrated into the rear-end design.

• Traction control
• A navigation system (before GPS systems were even allowed for public use)

But most importantly – It was a mid-engine Corvette. The rear-mounted twin-turbo V8 engine produced an upwards of 600 HP, and it was heavily inspired by Zora Arkus-Duntov’s design ideas from his time at GM where he introduced a V8 engine to the 1^st generation Corvette, and was a huge advocate for mid-engine cars. Zora’s mid-engine Corvette dream car was never produced for the public, but the inspiration can be seen in the Corvette Indy.

Through the rear glass, the mid-engine V8 is on display – featuring a futuristic take on the ‘Corvette’ text of the time, and C4 logo.

The Corvette Indy was so influential in its appearance at the NAIAS, that GM built two more models; one fiberglass model, and one fully-functional Indy that could potentially be used on the road or track.

At a glance the Corvette Indy can be dismissed as a regular concept-style car. Aggressively different styling, bold engine statement, intense use of technology…

But it is much more than that.

The Corvette Indy captured exactly what a Corvette is – without using obvious styling cues.

The interior, while covered in new buttons and switches, does stick true to some C4 features. On the center console you can find seat adjustment controls, just like the C4. On the doors you can find radio and climate controls, which is just a step forward from the C4 which had wiper controls on the door.

Seat adjustment can be found on the center console just like Corvettes of the time, but on the Indy it is accompanied by ignition controls as well.

The exterior features four headlights, two on each side, just like the 1958-1962 C1. The rims look similar to the 1984 C4 rims. The front fenders do rise high around the wheel just like the famous C3 fenders.

While the top of the car may seem incredibly abstract with a full see-through bubble design around the cabin of the car, it is still a Corvette-inspired feature. For the 1980s, Corvette left the traditional T-tops that have been found in Corvettes since 1968 in favor of a Targa top – a removable one-piece top. Targa tops changed the way you viewed every drive in a Corvette. Just because you had a coupe didn’t mean that you couldn’t take the top off and have the open feeling of a convertible. Clear Targa tops gave you the feeling of being in a convertible, without any contact with the weather outside.

This rooftop design captures that feeling of being outside in the elements, while staying safe inside the car.

While the 1986 Corvette Indy did not become the C5, its curvy shape did predict the styling choices of 90s cars well. In fact, most of the Corvette Indy’s design cues were picked up by the 4^th generation Camaro which premiered in 1993. If you look at a 4^th generation Camaro just right it can be argued that the pointed nose, headlights, and rear spoiler design cues were inspired by the Indy.

The Corvette Indy may not convey “Corvette” at a glance, but look closer next time. It captures the Corvette feeling of bold American independence. Behind the wheel of a Corvette you are strong. You earned this car. You are your own person, going your own way. You are powerful and free to go your own way with a car that reflects your personality.

That’s what makes a Corvette, a Corvette.

That is what I believe the Corvette Indy aimed to capture – a bold styling direction, while keeping the spirit of Corvette alive for the future.

The Corvette Indy is on display at the National Corvette Museum on loan from General Motors Design Staff

-Steven Teleky

Museum Educator

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