Why a ZR-1?

[cuisinartvette]

Lots to offer.

Has a look all its own from the rear
Gets decent mpg, easily to mod without giving up reliability
Looks and handles good, has some creature comforts

Does a little of everthing pretty well and not everyone has one.

One day another may pop up in my life...For now its about finishing the musclecar. Who knows...

[bb62]

I've owned one Sting Ray or another since 1981. I have had a 67 435HP coupe since 1995. To me they represented the pinnacle of the old high horsepower era (and still do). However, I felt like I was missing something with all the advances in the newer Corvettes. It always seemed like there was this huge gulf between the 1982 and older Corvette enthusiests and the enthusiests for the 1984 and newer cars. Having made the decision to buy a newer Corvette, I gravitated to the ZR-1 for a number of reasons. First, it represents to me the reentry into the high performance car realm by Chevrolet with the Corvette. The rarity of the Lotus engine and the beauty and engineering) of the LT5 itself.

I think my cars make beautiful historical bookends - the last of the old type of power and the first of the new type of power.

[RICKYRJ1]

It started in 1990 when a local Chevy mechanic was test driving one. He saw me staring at him and asked me if I knew what it was. When I was able to give him the specs on the car he asked if I wanted a ride. I was 26 and could barely afford my rent at the time let alone a supercar payment. Jump to 2005 I go to Carlisle for the first time and see all the ZR1's lined up in a row with the hoods up.. To see the LT5 15 yrs later I knew I wanted one. Started my computer searches found this forum and was impressed with the support given by fellow Z owner someone had a problem with their Z. Picked up my 95 in Oct.05 with 3k miles, new car in my book and for half what it cost new. Bottom line, it started with the car but has turned out to be the people I have met and become freinds with ( I hope they know who I'm talking about ) LOL. I would love to pick up another one.

[Norsky4360]

Several years ago while walking around one of our favorite local Corvette shows my wife was drawn to a bright red C4 coupe. Neither one of us were huge fans of the C4s but there was something about this car that caught her attention. Circling around it I noticed the ZR-1 emblem on the rear bumper and told her "Girl, you got good taste! But we'll never be able to afford one of these."

Fast forward to a Saturday morning in the early October of 2006. Over breakfast we were looking at the paper and my wife sees an ad for a red '90 ZR-1 at a local dealership, reads it to me, and says "We should go check it out today while we're out running errands." To make a long story a tad shorter - two weeks later the car was sitting in the garage next to our '70 convertible (aka "The Toy"). We're pretty sure it wasn't the same car we'd seen several years before but it was just as captivating. The ZR-1 (aka "The Beast") had just 7,500 miles on the odometer from the original owner and was in showroom shape. Unfortunately because it was so late in the fall we didn't get to drive it much before the driving season ended.

In the summer of 2007 we put 5,000 miles on it during a two week road trip and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice a road car "The Beast" is. We averaged just over 24 MPG for the entire trip (one stretch of 19 MPG @ 110 MPH with the A/C on - LOVE driving in Nevada!). It will be our vacation road trip car for the foreable future. We're lucky to be the 2nd "caretakers" of a such a great piece of Corvette history.

[Paul Workman]

The ZR-1 hits sooo many buttons in me, that I'd bore y'all to tears to list them. Perhaps McClellan said it best: "It's a Corvette, only more so!" It has been since it was introduced - an exotic not to get too involved in, cuz I never thought I'd be able to afford one. Then it happened, and I bought my dream come true a little over a year ago, and I still haven't come down or lost the permagrin! It is everything and more of what tickles my fancy, when it comes to cars; Corvettes in general, but this one especially. I feel lucky to be driving one - make that honored! I've owned and built muscle cars; SBC and BBCs. But, this is by far the baddest most ferocious BEAST I've ever driven! WooHoo!

P.

[USAFPILOT]

Simple...the year I turned 16 it was the baddest thing out...I swore I would have one. Even when newer and better cars were out I still wanted the ZR-1...partly because they are just so few and far between...and they still hold there own vs anything.

[RedSled]

I had wanted a Corvette for a long time and spent a good 1 1/2 years looking at and driving various mid-years. I wasn't finding the car I wanted in the price I could afford when I saw an article about the ZR-1. I remembered when they came out and how broke I was then. But I found this site, found a car locally to drive and went "whoa." To me it was all over then. I loved the engine. I thought it was such a great handling Corvette. For the price point, I was hooked and found my car here on the Registry.

- Keith '90 #1383, Red/Red

[JThomas]

I've been a Corvette fanatic since I was a child growing up in Detroit. Always wanted a mid-year but at 6'6", I don't fit in those very well. I don't fit in a C4 very well either. My first Corvette was an '89. I liked the styling of the C4 and the fact that the car was becoming a true challenge to other european marques, it was appealing to me. Then GM upgraded the car to the ZR-1. It became one of those cars I promised to buy myself someday, but at sixty thousand plus, I couldn't afford that back in the day. Three Corvettes later I purchased my '07 Z06. Believing that car was truly special and unique, I thought I was finally satisfied with the ultimate Corvette. Then I found an Ebay listing for my ZR-1. Fully understanding the history of the car, I jumped at it for a reasonable price. Now I own two very unique pieces of Corvette history. Both are very different but a blast to drive in their own right.

[ZR1Vette]

I forgot writing this for the Registry newletter (Jan 2008):

Passion is interesting…somehow you can recollect a moment when it strikes you, but fail to see the importance of that moment. It was 1967 and I was working for a friend’s father who was opening a service station in Annandale, Virginia. The ‘American Iron’ muscle car was in full swing and the big 3 were in the throws of a major horse power war and each was ‘one upping’ the other step by step. Regardless of make or horse power one car always garnered my fancy as probably it did with any young male…Corvette. So on that 1967 day, this young 17 year old male was pumping gas and “IT” drove up…a brand spankin’ new 1967 blue 427 side piper coupe with the sweetest sound and look. Unfortunately, the driver did not match the car as he said with arrogance dripping, “fill her up, don’t touch and maybe one day you can own a Vette…” Well he misjudged who was filling his car up and in silence I simply smiled and said in my mind’s eye ‘yep you betcha’. So that was the moment of the start of passion and it took 28 years to become real.

I could not help it…maybe is was that connection to the XKE and the forward hinging hood; or the Lotus connection; or simply an American manufacturer going edgy and challenging the world… whatever, but the ZR-1 had caught my eye. Every show or Vette gathering that had a ZR-1, I was there looking, smiling and saying ‘one day I will’. So I began looking, talking, reading, researching and getting serious about purchasing this wonder ZR-1 machine. I admit what first drew me was the heart of the beast and not so much its clothing much like a first date that maybe had a few visible flaws, but a wonderful heart and personality. But as time went by I began to appreciate the ZR-1 in all of its attributes and even began to see myself in a red-on-red ride.

[tomtom72]

I got infected by corvettes waaay back in 1977, and I started with a 72 LT-1 air coupe. Kept that until 1986. I really loved that car, drove the a$$ off of it, 70,000 miles worth! It made me look like this--->

Fast forward to 2003, no vette since '86. Soooo I decided that I needed a hobby again. I started looking and found that I could have a note & any C5....couldn't afford the LT-1 cars that had been restored, and didn't want to restore the ones that I could afford. I lamented my plight to Rob at CAC and he said "look at the ZR-1's, they are in your budget target." I should say that I didn't want a note on a toy.

I did some checking and found that the ZR-1 was a complete car, not just good at going fast. It was, IMHO, everything that my 72 LT-1 wanted to be but couldn't be because of the technology at the time. Now I look like this all the time because I own a ZR-1 since 12/16/04! ---->

I guess I was late to the table, but better late than never!