1990 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 – Auction Car of the Week

Personally speaking, before the arrival of the Corvette ZR-1, our love affair with the model began back in the mid to late ’80s as kids when we saw Templeton ‘Faceman’ Peck from The A-Team (who was the epitome of cool back then we don’t care what anyone says) cutting about in a white Chevrolet Corvette C4, complete with red go-faster stripe. To a pre-teen boy who was already developing a love for all things on four wheels this was a larger than life sports car that featured in one of our favourite television shows and it’s safe to say it made quite the impression. We were yet to appreciate the elegance of ’50s ‘Vettes and the sheer brutish muscle of the ’60s and ’70s models, that would come later. To us, this ’84 fourth-gen was automotive perfection.

Debuting all the way back in ’53, the later fourth generation model of Chevrolet’s perennially popular sports car, named imaginatively as the C4, was produced from 1984 to 1996. A complete redesign over previous models the C4 was a lot sleeker – gone were the bulging fenders of the C3, replaced instead with much straighter, smoother lines and a quintessentially ’80s fully electronic, digital dash. The new generation did carry over the 5.7-litre ‘Crossfire’ V8 engine from the previous incarnation, however, albeit it with a slight hike in power.

Numerous editions and options were available throughout production, including convertibles, turbocharged models and special editions but it was in 1990 that the pièce de résistance appeared in the form of the Corvette ZR-1. Here was a car that retained the Corvette’s iconic styling but bolstered the performance side of things with the inclusion of the new 375bhp LT5 engine that was designed by none other than Lotus. Not only did us Brits have a hand in the quad-cam, 32-valve V8 motor but Lotus also tweaked the brakes, steering and Bilstein-designed suspension, meaning that the ZR-1, atypically, could handle the twisties just as well as it could the drag strip.

You may be asking yourself what’s cooler than a white C4 with a red stripe. Well, the answer ladies and gentlemen, is a jet black ZR-1, just like the one we have available here via our auctions platform. According to the seller this is the very first black production ZR-1 and the first to make it across the pond to UK shores. Make no mistake, this is an exclusive and desirable piece of Americana. Having covered a mere 12,250 miles (enough for one major service carried out last year by Parts USA in Stockport), this cool Corvette ZR-1 has had minimal use and has been in the same family since it was purchased new in 1990.

There’s no usual Yank slushbox here either. Instead what you get is a six-speed manual ZF transmission sending all of that power to the rear wheels. Perfection. Both glass and hard top roofs are included and the only modification from standard comes in the form of a fettled exhaust, which we’re all for quite frankly. Let that V8 sing!

What we have here then is a stunning example of a rare edition American classic, a car that very much lives up to its ‘King of the Hill’ epithet. With just 6,939 ZR-1s built, (a fraction of which were left-hand drive, as this one is) if exclusivity and unadulterated, raw power are your huckleberry then this beautiful black Corvette ZR-1 is definitely the car for you.

Anyway, we’re off to dig out some old episodes of The A-Team so we’ll leave you to fawn over all of the rather fabulous pictures included in the listing.