The 2013 Hall of Fame recipients will be inducted into theCorvette Hall of Fame during a ceremony and banquet on Thursday, August 29, 2013.Their induction will take place as part of the Museum’s 19thAnniversary Corvette Celebration festivities August 29-31, 2013.
Cooksey’s connection to Corvette began inFebruary 1993 when he assumed the role as the Plant Manager at the GeneralMotors Bowling Green Assembly Plant, responsible for the production ofCorvettes and later the Cadillac XLRs. He held that role for 15 years – the longest serving Plant Manager todate - before retiring in March 2008. While at the Plant, Cooksey not only served on the Board of Directorsfor the National Corvette Museum (1994-2011) and Board Chairman (2008 and 2009),but he was also responsible for helping to get started many of the DeliveryDepartment programs the Museum still offers today including R8C, Xperience,Buyers’ Tours and more. Cooksey was muchmore than a Plant Manager, going the extra mile to get to know the customers,traveling to car shows, enhancing the plant tour experience by encouragingemployee interaction with guests and being very Corvette enthusiast and ownerfocused.
Cooksey has received numerous accolades andawards including “Black Engineer of the Year President’s Award” in 1997,“Achiever of the Year” from Austin Peay University, was featured on the coverof African-American on Wheels magazine when they named Corvette the “Best UrbanCar of the Year”, “Black Achiever in the Industry” by the Southern ChristianLeadership Conference and the “Lee Iacocca Award” in 2010.
Corvette Hall of Fame Inductee Werner Meier became involved in thehobby in 1969 when he purchased his first Corvette – a brand new 1969 on his 18thbirthday. That same year he beganparticipation in the Corvette Club of Michigan, but wasn’t able to officiallyjoin until 1972 when he turned 21. Agraduate of the General Motors Institute, he worked at GM as a manufacturingengineer, service engineer and Engineering Group Manager over a 33 year career,but it is his side hobby of Corvette restoration and collection that hasgarnered notoriety. Meier has owned,restored and/or serviced over 100 Corvettes, many of them very rare or uniqueincluding a 1958 “Fancy Free” styling car, 1963 Corvette styling car built forHarley Earl and 1964 Bill Mitchell styling car with one piece door glass.Meier has provided vehicles from his personalcollection to various Museums for display including the GM Heritage Center,Gilmore Car Museum and National Corvette Museum. He has also organized exclusive Corvettedisplays at events such as the Meadowbrook Concours d’Elegance, Bay HarborConcours d’Elegance and Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. With preservation and restoration being twoof his many Corvette passions, Meier has been a member of the National CorvetteRestorers Society since 1983 and serves as an annual Tech Seminar host. He also was an inaugural member of theBloomington Gold Corvette Hall of Fame in 1998 and has been a SpecialCollection exhibitor eight times. As aLifetime Member of the National Corvette Museum, Meier has loaned his 1963“Bunkie Knudsen” Corvette and 1958 “Fancy Free” Corvette for exhibit at theMuseum, in addition to providing on-going advice and ideas on improvingdisplays and exhibits at the Museum.
Corvette Hall of Fame Inductee Johnny O’Connell is hailed as the mostsuccessful GM factory racecar driver from the U.S. O’Connell’s racing career began in 1987 inthe Formula Atlantic series where he won five races en route to the championshipand was named Rookie of the Year. In1993 he scored a class victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring, an overall win in1994 and another class victory in 1995. He also won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1994, which was alsohis first time competing in the prestigious endurance race.
O’Connell joined the factory Corvette Racing teamin 2001, scoring the team’s first overall victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona inthe Corvette C5.R, followed by the team’s first 24 Hours of Le Mans classvictory in 2001. Since then he has helped GM’s factory team capture eightstraight manufacturers’ titles and achieving seven class wins in the 12 Hoursof Sebring, more than any other driver. In2008, O’Connell and teammate Jan Magnussen dominated the GT1 class, scoringeight wins en route to the class championship. O’Connell notched his record-setting eighth Sebring win in the seasonopening race in 2009, and then became the first American to score four classwins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He madea seamless transition to the GT2 class, finishing as runner-up in the competitiondebut of the GT2 Corvette C6.R at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and scoringCorvette Racing’s first GT2 win at Mosport in his record-setting 100thcareer ALMS start. At the conclusion ofthe 2009 season, O'Connell held numerous ALMS records, including the mostcareer starts (102), most podium finishes (80), most top-five finishes (93) andmost top-10 finishes (100). After ten years with Corvette, O’Connell joinedTeam Cadillac in 2011, competing in the SCCA World Challenge GT alongsideformer Corvette Racing teammate Andy Pilgrim where they still race today. In 2012 O’Connell was inducted into theSebring Hall of Fame and joined Bondurant School of High Performance Driving astheir ZR1 expert instructor, also serving as the school’s VP of GlobalOperations. He also now adds insight andexcitement to the ALMS racing as a commentator for ABC, ESPN and Speed.
The National Corvette Museum established theCorvette Hall of Fame in 1998 to confer the highest honor and recognition uponthe most influential individuals in the history of the Corvette. The awardrecognizes those who have made significant contributions to their respectivefields, each having reached the highest level of accomplishment. Inductees mustalso reflect the highest standards of integrity and character to positivelyenhance the prestige of the Corvette and the National Corvette Museum.
Additional information on reserving a spot at theprestigious Corvette Hall of Fame banquet will be available in the comingmonths via our website at: www.corvettemuseum.orgor can be obtained by subscribing to our weekly eNewsletter “NCM eNews” at: www.corvettemuseum.org/ncmenews/. Corporate tables are available for thedinner and can be reserved by contacting Karen Renfrow in the Events Departmentat 270-467-8804 or email karen@corvettemuseum.org.
The National Corvette Museum is a member-driven,non-profit foundation dedicated to educating the public through thepreservation of the Corvette’s past, present and future heritage. Open dailyfrom 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT, the Museum is located at Exit 28 off I-65 in Bowling Green,KY.
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