ZR-1....Lost in the past?

[cuisinartvette]

Funny you dug this thread up...While waiting in the staging lanes the other night I had someone come up and ask if it was a real Z. Said "sure".
THen he asked what was I doing racing such a nice car?
Answered him, "Because I can".

Old timer got a big 'ol smile on his face.

[Z Factor]

Originally Posted by Patton

WHOA,... that is just too freakin WIERD. Today, SAME EXACT THING.
Makin a petrol stop, guy in his mid 30's in an M3 pulled up and actually said "Holy shyt a ZR-1!" hopped out and enthusiatically checked her out. He actually knew alot about the Z though, said his brother had a '90. What are the odds?

I missed this reply originally. That is very unusual to have it happen the exact same day, under the same circumstances. Makes you wonder how many other ZR-1 owners around the world also had admiring M3 owners that day.

[John Boothby]

To comprehend the rarity or our ZR1's, the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction in January has only 2 out of 112 corvettes listed. A 1990 red/red and a 1994 black/black w/24k miles.

There are a bunch of 427's and others but only the 2 ZR1's!

John B.
1990 ZR1 red/saddle #148

[RICKYRJ1]

I'll take the rarity anyday. The ZR1 is a legend with the people in the know. Went to large car show over the summer with a lot of C5's in it, all had the same mods done only difference were their colors. Next year I will be the only Z there unless Ray steps up.

[tomtom72]

May I come also?? This way we can have a squadron of ZR-1's.

[91King]

Like most here I have had impromptu show and tell sessions at filling stations. It never fails that those who inquire are often excited about what they are looking at even if it is yesterday's high tech hot rod.

Of all the interesting encounter's I have had, last year my 11 yr old son and I were taking a Sunday cruise. While still in town heading for some faster blacktop we were stopped at a light and I noticed a city police car a couple of cars back in the adjacent lane. Well the light turned green and I eased the car upto the legal speed limit. About an 1/8th mile down the road the patrol car was behind me with his light bar in full display.

I'm scratching my head because I know darn well I didn't do anything illegal, but I pull over and stop. As the officer approached my window he was eyeballing the car and when he reached me he said "I noticed you were leaking water from the front of your car and wanted to tell you. By the way I am corrvette enthusiast and a huge ZR1 fan." Well as you know those are the magic words so I said "gee officer would you like to look at the LT5?" The look on his face was priceless. Just like a kid in a candy store.

I popped the hood and gave him the guided tour for a good 15 minutes, the whole time his car is sitting behind me with the light bar still going. I can't even imagine what folks driving by must have thought.

When we finished I looked under my car and found a puddle of coolant about the size of a silver dollar that had dripped from the overflow tank. Some leak

[ZR-1 Mack]

I've met a few people that know what the ZR-1 / LT5 is all about.

But once you pop that hood open most people quickly understand just how special the ZR-1 is .

[Nick]

Originally Posted by cuisinartvette

Taken the 90 to a few local cruises, nobody even notices this thing, or even knows what it is, even one guy who parked next to me in a C5 blew it off as a TPI
No wonder people got p'd for paying 65k and getting no props...Occasionally get the 60'ish guy in a late Beemer who will pace it on the fwy and pull up giving the nod though..That is all

Last time I had the Z out and ran it to redline in the first three gears, I can't recall giving a rat's azz whether anyone knows what the King is and all...

Isn't it a TPI, after all?

[Greenvetter]

Amen to that Nick!

[WB9MCW]

CAV keep the faith....I luv the mighty Z just because she is the ultimate stealth sleeper vette! Most folks can not tell it from a std c4 unless they see the badge or get a glimpse of the tire width from behind. But they sure figure it out when they get waxed big time by the king!!! And so (one time) a c5z06 (black one) had been tailin me hard right as I pulled out from my house street(what are the odds of that a black z06 on my azz right out of the shoot) for abt 5 miles to the next town and when the moment came ( an uphill 1/8 mile romp) I hammered it...yep he did stay exactly with me and weaved between the cars the exact same..but he never gained 1 inch for the whole 1/8th to abt 100mph. Well it was great cause I the thumbs up from his old lady as we turned on an off ramp to the right. When I am at the cruise car shows at he culvers/hooters/a&w's and the hood is up is when I have the most fun...cause they usually say first " hey man i aint ever seen a vette engine like that b4" my answer is ...well ur lookin at the finest engine ever put in an American car bar none...she is an all aluminium DOHC 350cid hemi (that right guys our pistons are curved and qualify as hemi-sphereical) that puts out 375-405 Bhp and redlines at 7200rpm. Englishman(Lotus)/American engineering, Mercury Marine built engine, with a German tranny in a specially modified vette body/frame. What u have here is the "KOTH" as it was nicknamed by the Chevy engineers. And a king it is indeed. Then I spout the fig's 0-60mph in 4.3 seconds, 10 sec@100mph 12.8 sec.@ the 1/4mi.and at 20seconds =150mph,, and if the road is long enough a top end of 175-180mph. I believe this to be the best car ever produced in America(usually this produces a jaw drop comment of "wow no kiddin" from them)...If they are a real vette or car guy I go on to tell em the Record breaking story @ the Firestone Tire test track in Texas with all the details including the fox sighting and the 190mph victory laps. By then they have either figured I am crazy or a good lier! Usually I convince em that i'm just "vette Zr-1 crazy" and if they like to bench race well we have a good time at it swappin the old war stories!!! My fav. is when the mopar hemi guys (I always id em b4 they do me)stop by and glance in at the motor, they usually do the double look followed by a call to "joe hey lookie here at this vette motor" and it starts all over again cept 4 the part where I rib em on not having the hemi market cornered!!! The spark plug wires down between the cams into the covers makes believers of em everytime. I love telling em the low production #'s for each year and the totals of less than 7k. By now they have figured out that they are indeed lookin at a RARE vette!!! I usually close up with tellin em about "Bad Attitude" my 28' Wellcraft Scarab that has a 600hp blower motor as being my high hp monster motor I own (hell the motor alone cost more than I paid for my ZR-1) but that my NA all alum DOHC hemi @7000 rpms is the best music to my gearhead ears!!! I do admit I luv the sound (whine) of the blower motors and you think ur in a jet turbine plane but my luv affair with the LT-5/ZR-1 is second only to my wife and family(blood relatives)!!!! As bad as I want a c6z06 someday, I don't think I could ever give my ZR-1 addiction up, for it is indelibly etched in my mind and will be runnin thru my blood forever!!!! So ya see CAV we are the KEEPERS OF THE KING...............LONG LIVE THE KING OF THE HILL.................... and Patton I hope ur proud of me not using the CAPS cept where appropriate!!!