Can we oblige WILD ABOUT CARS. com?

[WydGlydJim]

Ok Guys this is what I sent him..........I think it is a good story, but I may be a little bit biased.


Good Morning Mr. Gulino,
Thanks for your interest. This car actually has an amazing story.
In 1998, the late, great, John Lingenfelter personally prepared a C4 ZR-1 for the "Fastest Street Legal Cars In America" high speed shootout featured by Road and Track magazine. He was asked to bring a C5, which he did, but the C5s were very new then, and he actually wanted to win the event, so he asked the promoters if he could bring a C4 ZR-1. The shootout featured such significant cars as the McLaren F1, Ferrari 550 Maranello, Ruf Porsche CTR 2, Hennessey Viper 600 GTS, Toyota Supra Turbo, as well as the two Corvettes that John prepared. Mario Andretti drove all of the cars.
The C4 that John prepared performed amazingly. The car was naturally aspirated with the 32 valve LT-5 engine specially prepared with 415 cubic inches. As mentioned John wanted to actually win the event, and he almost pulled it off. The ZR-1 clocked a top speed of an incredible 218 MPH!!, which was an amazing feat. It finished just a click behind the $1.5 million McLaren. I have video of that event, and the 1998 August issue of the Road And Track featuring that event.
Which brings us to my car. My car was owned by high speed Junkie Sryantha Weerasuria, everyone calls him SW for good reason. Anyway SW owns Elite Motorsports in Austin Texas, and has held many high speed records in mile events, and currently is running 1400 H.P. Lamborghini Gallardos, with times approaching 250 MPH in the mile. SW purchased the engine that was in the 1998 high speed shootout car from Lingenfelter Performance, and had them install it in my 1994 ZR-1. On 7/19/99 they delivered my car with the engine from the high speed shootout, that went 218 MPH, and it now resides in my street car. Here is almost the most amazing part of the whole story. The car has engine dynoed at 688 H.P. but it is still very streetable. I can drive with the A/C on, and it does not overheat. I even drove it to the Bloomington Corvette show in Champaign Illinois show this past year from Wichita Kansas, which is about 1200 miles round trip, and it averaged 23 MPG on the highway at 75 MPH with the A/C on!!
These 415 Lingenfelter ZR-1s are amazing. It is amazing that they are still relevant in terms of performance 20 years later. As mentioned the LPE 415 ZR-1 cars are quicker 0-150-0 than a new C6 ZR1. Without a supercharger, and with less Cubic inches! One more interesting fact about my ZR-1, is that in Sept. of 2002 John Lingenfelter signed the intake plenum on my car. In October of that same year John had his terrible accident, and was in a coma of which he never recovered, and died about a year later in 2003. This quite possibly could be that very last piece of equipment that John signed. It is very special to me. Although I never met John, I know he was an automotive guru, and his contributions to the pursuit of performance are amazing.
I'll send some more pics.

Thanks
James