Get Ad-Free Access: Just $39/year
This car was created by Doug Rippie. His claim to fame was the Corvette Challenge Series. Rippie loved racing Corvettes in the US, but, his life-long dream was to take on the world-class marques at Le Mans. So, when Chevy introduced the C4 ZR1 the opportunity was opened up. Via his collaboration with MerCruiser and Lotus Engineering, all with Chevy’s blessing, the "Black Widow" program created special street and race versions of the LT5 engine. This engine made 525hp.
The Corvette team decided to one-up the Viper with four extra cylinders, they decided on one of Ryan Falconer’s stunning, all aluminum, 600-cubic-inch, 683hp, 680 lb-ft V-12 racing engines. The biggest challenge was the fact that the all-aluminum V-12 engine was 8.8-inches longer than the production Corvette engine. So the front end of the ZR-1 would have to be stretched 8 inches. This test car was named Conan, after his raw, beastlike charisma.
1993 Corvette C4 40th Anniversary ZR-1 parked on street
In 1993 just 448 ZR-1 Corvettes were produced and only 240 of them were 40th Anniversary Edition cars. The 40th Anniversary Package consists of a deep and glossy Ruby Red exterior finish over a matching Ruby Red interior with leather adjustable sport seats. A Corvette with both of these highly desirable packages is rare and special. At the heart of the ZR-1 is the 405-horsepower LT5 V8 engine mated to a 6-speed manual transmission.
In the late 80s, Chevy was developing what some dubbed a ‘Super Vette.’ But the 1989 debut of the Dodge Viper sent GM engineers on a new path to develop a ‘Viper-Killer.’ It started with a factory test mule and the experiment was to see how a ZR-1 would perform if given more power and less weight. It was so fast it was called "Snake Skinnner", for it's ability to beat the Viper and Cobra.
2017 corvette c7 z06
You can find a newer, low-mileage, Corvette at a price point that is reasonable when looking at a C7 vs the competition. You'll pay more than you would for a Mustang, Challenger or Camaro, but you'll get a lot more car for the money too.