What's the story on the first 100 1990 ZR-1s?

[scholtmj]

I found a Red/Red 90' ZR-1 for sale and it sounds like an interesting car. The owner (ZR-1 certified mechanic) says the first 100 cars were press vehicles and not to be sold to the public. His car is #77 and it was sold to Maxie in Georgia as a favor since Maxie was one of the largest Corvette dealers in the country. He says it has steel half-shafts which was an early production item. 48k miles but Maxie didn't put any on and the owner has put 3 miles on it since 1997.

Does this story make sense or am I being fed a lie?

[Kevin]

as for the first 100 not being sold other then to one dealer doesn't really sound true to me but I don't really know...sounds like ******** but I could be wrong. The half-shaft thing is true though

[ZR1Vette]

Not sure about the first 100 story BUT yes up until MY 90 VIN 622 half shafts are steel and then at that point switched over to aluminum

[gbrtng]

The press cars shipped to Europe for the Geneva show were 89s and not sold to the public. Don't know where those went. 90s with VINs under 100 were sold to the public; I never heard anyone refer to them as "press" cars, but you probably had to be a favorite dealer to get any of the first ones.

[Nick]

Huh. We have a member here in the PNW with 1990 #64. I believe he said it was a GM exec car at one time (McClellan's?). :dontknow:

[GrayZ]

At the gathering a few years ago, Gordon Killilbrew commented on my car being an early car, (#74) He said, you have a early car, 14.
I thought he'd misread the vin number, i repeated #74, He explained
the first 60 cars produced were not for sale to the general public, but
went to GM exec's, and favored dealers.
Some of the differences were the the shafts already mentioned.
Glass Headlights, he also explained that "extra time" in the engine build and overall, to insure they were perfect examples of ZR-1's.
the earlier cars are also faster, sexier, and cost more coin.
most came with fuzzy dice. :mrgreen:

[flyin ryan]

I was just going to post about Keith's car, i thought if memory served correct it was an early one. Turns out it is, #74. Good info Gordon K. provided to Keith.

[phrogs]

As far as the half shafts mine first ZR-1 was #354 and it had steel halfshafts.

[tomtom72]

Didn't alot of the early car's also get built with the manual A/C? I thought that I saw that someplace, maybe over at the NetReg site? I can't remember where I read that the combo of steel halfshafts & manual A/C were a fairly scarce item. The auto climate control and the dual roof option are the only options listed on my sticker...mine is a May 90 build date, 2233.

[gbrtng]

As far as I know, manual air was available throughout 1990 on the ZR-1. Automatic air became standard in LT5 1991s, although manual air was standard on the L98 1991s - my wife has one.

[ZR1Vette]

The manual AC (code C60) was available only in MY90 and 124 were sold with the manual AC... some know VIN with manual AC show that it was being optioned throughout the MY90 production:
#418, #610, #713, #969, #982, #990, #1040, #1051, #1766, #2086, #2491, #2838, #2511, #2682

Auto AC and the transparent top were the only two options in MY90 and in MY91 on auto AC was only available in that the manual AC was dropped.

[Aurora40]

The auto climate control and the dual roof option are the only options listed on my sticker...mine is a May 90 build date, 2233.
Those were the only options on these cars. Though there were two roof possibilities, the clear as a replacement, or the clear in addition to the solid roof. But you could only add a max of two options to the car.

[pappy.72]

So what you are saying is that I should go buy this one. #56 for $14950. I took a look at it and it is a typical 75K mileage car with some nicks and bruises. Interior is easily resotred. I may go take it for a spin this week.

http://www.dupagedodgechryslerjeep.com/site/used_inventory_search?state=detail&vehicle-guids=4F77ED28-AB28-7F5B-B0A1-1A42B99AC71E&include-options=true&include-media=true

[Ccmano]

So what you are saying is that I should go buy this one. #56 for $14950. I took a look at it and it is a typical 75K mileage car with some nicks and bruises. Interior is easily resotred. I may go take it for a spin this week.

http://www.dupagedodgechryslerjeep.com/site/used_inventory_search?state=detail&vehicle-guids=4F77ED28-AB28-7F5B-B0A1-1A42B99AC71E&include-options=true&include-media=true

Looks like a nice car for a decent price. The under #100 issue is questionable and I wouldn't pay extra for that. Although, I do remember reading somewhere that the very early cars were press cars. Don't take the 14,950 as the final price. They have already marked it down, that means it's been there for a while and if it doesn't sell soon it will be wholesaled off. From the pictures it looks like it has new wheels and Goodyear GS-D3 tires (nice), a short shifter, decent paint and interior. Too bad it's Sunday, dealers are closed today in IL.
Good luck
H
:cheers:

[LGAFF]

So what you are saying is that I should go buy this one. #56 for $14950. I took a look at it and it is a typical 75K mileage car with some nicks and bruises. Interior is easily resotred. I may go take it for a spin this week.

http://www.dupagedodgechryslerjeep.com/site/used_inventory_search?state=detail&vehicle-guids=4F77ED28-AB28-7F5B-B0A1-1A42B99AC71E&include-options=true&include-media=true


This car has a bad third gear synchro...just an FYI.......has done some racing in its time.

[pappy.72]

Thanks for the heads up. I was hoping to hear from someone local.

[Ccmano]

This car has a bad third gear synchro...just an FYI.......has done some racing in its time.

Have you been out shopping for a third Z, Lee? I take it you looked at and drove this car? You better buy that lift for your garage so you can stack them in there.... and a bed for the garage when your wife makes you sleep there... ;)

H
:cheers:

[LGAFF]

Mr. Haibeck knows the car well........always room for more Zs. I just need to keep buying my wife new a new Mercedes every so often....by the way tell the guys from Hoffman to stop calling her up :mrgreen:I keep getting calls at work saying....How much is an SL55, CL500......

[scholtmj]

Well I went and looked at the car over the weekend and it was pretty beat up. The guy did have a ton of NOS parts but not enough to make up for the condition of the car IMHO. He also stated that all ZR-1s had auto climate control...so that kind of discredits the rest of his story.

If anyone is looking for NOS parts that come with a project car I've got a phone number for you...

[RedRiderZR1]

1990 #41 here. I have heard the same stories as well about the first cars. Don't know for sure any of that is true. I am the third owner and have no idea who the first owner was. For all I know, peewee herman could of been the first owner. :-D

[LGAFF]

For all I know, peewee herman could of been the first owner. :-D

PeeWee Herman, Why?, do the seats have stains?