Deal Or No Deal? Rare 1991 Shinoda/Rick Mears ZR-1 Has Made The Rounds

Welcome to a new CorvSport series where we take a deeper look at recent sales of collectible and rare Corvettes, and the rounds they make around the collector car world. And where better to start than the formidable former King of the Hill, the C4 ZR-1? We have an action-packed inaugural episode. First, we’ll briefly introduce what makes this ZR-1 so unique and then look at the interesting rounds it’s recently made in the collector car world. After that, we’ll reveal the sales price, compare it to the top 5 Mecum sales, and then give you a photo gallery with our favorite shots of this rare piece of C4 history. Let’s get after it!

1991 Shinoda/Rick Mears ZR-1 Highlights:

No. 14 of only 14 cars modified by Williams Design with bodywork penned by Larry Shinoda
The only example of the 14 produced in Pearl Yellow
Original LT5 5.7L aluminum V-8 engine
ZF 6-speed manual transmission
17″ Elite six-spoke wheels wrapped in Sumitomo HTR tires measuring 275/40 up front and 315/35 out back
The designated customer for car No. 14 was Gregg Norman

Who Is Larry Shinoda?

“Though his tenure did not last nearly as long as that of Bill Mitchell or Zora-Arkus Duntov, few can deny the significance of Larry Shinoda’s contributions to GM design and development, especially that of the Corvette. Without Shinoda’s efforts, the Corvette world would likely have gone without the C3, in its now iconic form, as well as several of GM’s most infamous prototypes…” Continue reading CorvSport’s original Larry Shinoda feature here…

Making The Rounds in the Collector Car World

This No. 14 example was bid to $57,500 at Bring a Trailer just over a year ago. Shortly after this auction ended, a deal was struck behind the scenes, and she went home to a new owner, but not the seller from this year’s BaT auction. The full May 2022 BaT listing can be viewed here.

Somewhere between May of last year and this year, “ExclusiveMotorClub” acquired this rare ZR-1, although it is only speculative that ExclusiveMotorClub was the seller who rejected this $55,000 bid at Mecum’s 2024 Glendale auction. Click here to see the full Mecum listing.

Well, how much did this Shinoda/Rick Mears ZR-1 sell for this time around?

$50,000!

Full May 2024 Listing Here

Deal or No Deal?

Here are the top five 1991 ZR-1 sales from Mecum’s archives, with our featured ZR-1’s previous no-sale sandwiched between the top two. The recent $50,000 sale puts it squarely in second place, but the big question is, will the rarity and Shinoda tie-in increase its value over time?

So, CorvSport readers, was this a deal or not? Has this rare Shinoda/Rick Mears ZR-1 fallen flat in the Corvette collector car world? If you want to keep up to date with all the fresh Corvette news and maintain a pulse on the lifestyle and culture of this exciting, iconic brand, CorvSport has the fastest-growing Corvette community on our Facebook page, with over 173,000 followers (54,000 since January 2023!). Come join other hardcore enthusiasts and say hello, Douglas B.