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Here's the story...
lllustrated Corvette Series No. 97 1995 ZR1 Corvette
"End of the Line for the ZR1"
All
good things come to an end, right? The ZR-1 was arguably the most
aggressive engineering effort ever put into production in the entire
history of street Corvettes. It's a miracle and a mystery that the
Corvette is even alive in General Motors. When you hold the stodgy,
bean-counting nature of GM up against the $31,258 ZR-1 option, it's
even more amazing. Remember, this is a company that has put the
Corvette on the chopping block many times since 1953. It just goes to
show you what affection, passion, and love of a high performance
automobile can do to even the most conservative corporate decision
makers. The late '70s and early '80 was like a bad dream.
Despite the basic nature of GM, there were enough performance hounds
working at top levels that saw the value of buying Lotus Engineering in
the '80s. Thanks to Lotus' expertise in building and developing exotic
all-aluminum engines, the Corvette team had the resource to design a
state-of-the-art, world class, exotic American V8 engine. In sports car
circles, Corvettes had always carried the stigma of its "basic" pushrod
Chevy engine. The ZR-1 absolutely put an end to all that nonsense.
When
the ZR-1 was being planned and developed, the Chevrolet Marketing
Departments optimistically projected at least 5,000 units per year.
Since the entire run of ZR-1 cars from 1990 to 1995 amounted to only
6,939 units, from a business viewpoint, the ZR-1 was a dismal failure.
But from a performance and status perspective, the ZR-1 was a stunning
success.
In the late '80s the "collectibility" craze was in full-swing. The ZR1
was supposed to be an '89 model option, but was delayed due to minor
certification problems with the engine. All this did was stoke the
magazines and the collectors. When the ZR-1 finally arrived as a '90
model, some dealers sold the cars with steep markups. Five years later,
they were selling ZR-1s at steep discounts. Chevrolet marketing guru Ed
Cole said, "The problem with sports cars is you have to sell all of
them the first day"
Aside
from the new front fender gills and a few other details in the base
Corvette, the '95 ZR-1 was a carryover. To sweeten the ZR-1 package,
the Z07 Selective Ride Control and the low tire pressure tire warning
system options were now included. The most noticeable visual change in
the '95 ZR-1 was the 17-inch, 5-spoke alloy wheels. Mercury Marine, the
manufacturer of the ZR-1 engine, had completed production of ZR-1
engines in November 2003, so the '95 model still had 405 horsepower.
And remember, that is "net" horsepower, not like the olden days of
unrealistic "gross" horsepower ratings. The gross power rating for the
ZR-1 was at least over 500. This shows up in the ZR-1's 111 mph speed
after a 13.1-second quarter-mile blast.
So
why didn't the ZR-1 become the "to die for" Corvette of the early '90s?
It boiled down to aesthetics, price, and the increasingly high standard
of the base Corvette. The ZR-1 had dedicated rear body parts to cover
the huge 11-inch wide rear wheels. Except for the restyled rear fascia
and a slight curve on the front of the rear wheel openings, the ZR-1
looked like a regular Corvette. Then in '91, all Corvettes had similar
styled tail lights. So except for minor details, the ZR-1 looked like a
regular Corvette.
Then
there was the price issue. While no one could argue about the ZR-1
engine, a single option costing almost as much as the car was more than
most buyers would accept. Yes, the ZR-1 could run with Europe's big
dogs, but it didn't look exotic, it looked like a regular Corvette. And
finally, as the base car got quicker and faster, the performance gap
got to the point where the price wasn't worth the performance gain. But
it sure looked good with the hood open.
The ZR-1 provided valuable know-how that showed up in the '97 LS1
engine for the new C5. Also, let's not forget the Morrison Motorsports
1991 record-smashing, 171.885mph ZR-1 Corvette. The ZR-1 helped put to
rest that tired, old rant from the European crowd that the Corvette was
nothing more than a pretty Chevy.
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