I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Corvette ZR-1 remains one of the best modern supercar bargains out there. While it may not be as refined as the Porsche 911 or the Acura NSX of the same era, there is zero doubt that the performance was on the same wavelength of its competitors, as the ZR-1 ran neck and neck with the 964-chassis 911 Turbo. The ZR-1 was a moonshot of a car, especially for the era in which it was made and for following on the heels of the disappointing early C4. This Corvette ZR-1 has just 13,220 original miles and is listed here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $34,900 and the option to submit a best offer.
The ZR-1 was a powerhouse in every regard. Chevrolet took a fairly rudimentary product – the standard C4 Corvette – and tore up the playbook. The adaptive suspension was conceived by Bilstein; the engine re-engineered with the help of Lotus; heck, the bodywork was even widened. The ZR-1 wasn’t just a higher horsepower model with a higher price tag, although the base MSRP shot up significantly and is believed to have played a role in the model’s limited sales success. Still, road test editors at the time seemingly felt the ZR-1 was worth the cost of admission, as a prolific comparison between the Corvette and the 911 Turbo gave the nod to the C4.
Now, to own a ZR-1, you have to accept the fact that the interior isn’t particularly nice and the car perhaps doesn’t feel as well screwed together as its competitors. I mean, take a look at the listing photos of the cabin and tell me you’re not at least a little surprised that this is the cabin of a car with under 15,000 original miles; panel gaps are everywhere and none of the plastics look particularly nice. The leather bucket seats are in good shape, however, and still appear to be incredibly well-bolstered as they are in every C4. The seller doesn’t tell us more more than what the pictures show, other than that it’s a one-owner car.
The details let this ZR-1 down a bit, as the engine bay doesn’t look particularly nice for such a time-warp specimen; perhaps this is as clean as it’s going to get but it doesn’t have the same sort of visual “pop” as I’d expect for a vehicle that is practically new. The ZR-1’s I’ve seen listed by private sellers as of late all seem to be priced at $40,000 or better, but seeing the ask here, I’m wondering if any of those examples even sell for that much. The ZR-1 has long been considered a suprcar bargain, and this low-mileage specimen appears to continue that trend.
But is this car “uber”
I would not attempt to answer that for fear of Uber negative comments as a result.
These are unloved and haven’t hit there stride. Have seen them cheaper and doubtful it will sell at the buy it now price. The C4 bargain.
The good thing about this supercar, as compared to it’s European counterparts? Is that you could actually drive and enjoy the Vette, without worrying that some expensive bit was going to fail.
That’s yet to happen here!
13k miles. Honestly sad. Car may sell in the low 20s in this climate. Probably mid teens if you wait a year. A massive loss if this was an investment. They almost always are. Hope the next owner drives the wheels off it!
MSRP on this in 1990 was about $60,000. In 2022 dollars, that’s $132,000. And many people paid significantly over MSRP because these were pretty hot. So you can see what an abysmal investment this was.
Prices are poor because when that Merc engine goes sour, the price to fix (and even finding someone to fix it) is huge. Parts are almost nonexistent. To bad, a great piece, but the market has not made what is needed for the long term owner.
Cellblock- There are many LT-5 engines running today with over 150,000 miles and a few with > 200,000 miles documented on the ZR-1 Registry website. They are virtually bulletproof. But you are absolutely correct, if it goes south you are not taking it to your local garage or Chevy store. The best place to own a C4 ZR-1 is Chicagoland, where THE ZR-1 guru, Marc Haibeck is based.
In my area you are more likely to find a mechanic that can fix this kind if motor than to find a body shop wanting to just swap out a door on a simple as pie 60’s chevy! wth
joeny- Speaking of body shops, I wonder how many ZR-1 buyers know the car has different doors, fenders and back bumper than a base C4? What happens if a 1990 gets hit today? I have never heard much about the availability of replacement body parts.
Would love to own it, especially at that price, but the condition of the engine bay and interior are disappointing for a car with such low mileage. The failing clearcoat on the hood indicates this thing lived outside for a while….what a shame.
Second time around for this one. It was here early in April. Upon further review, the asking price means the car needs to be 100% perfect. It is priced at the upper limit, so it needs to have a ton of paperwork and need almost nothing. That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Frank Sumatra
Apr 1, 2022 at 6:04pm
Anybody wondering about prices on low-mile ZR-1’s should take a peek at a site that encourages folks to Bring a Method of Transporting your purchase. $60,000-$85,000 for ultra-low mileage examples. $30,000- $50,000 for low-mileage (Under 25K miles) Prices have gone crazy in the past few months. If this one is legit, it might be a good purchase. Don’t spend too much time at the other site. 10 minutes should be plenty to get a feel for prices. We have more fun here.
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Frank Sumatra
Apr 2, 2022 at 8:55am
If you are interested there is a 13,000 mile 1990 ZR-1 on BaT with 5 hours to go currently at $29,000. Remember- Don’t spend too much time there.
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Frank Sumatra
Apr 2, 2022 at 2:10pm
BaT 13K mile 1990 sold @ $33,250 Purchased for $18,500 in 2018. And I’ll bet a lot more fun than owning stocks.
As a now retired Chevrolet (drive ability and electronics) technician, and having seen and had the misfortune of having to work on these ZR-1 engines; these are horrible to work on.
These cars were a wonder in 1990. The cars and not that hard to work on, especially the engine. In 1990, yes, but not today. If you can work on a 4-cam Lexus engine, or any 4-cam engine, you can work on these. There are a number of people in the country who specialize in these cars/engines. I have had three, first one I drove for six months, stripped out the drive train and put in in a 1954 Corvette, second one still driving, third one for another drive train. Engines can last 300K to 450K if oil is changed on a regular basis. I tore the first engine down with 178K miles and there was absolutely no wear in the bottom end, none. The Cadillac Northstar engine is almost a copy of the LT5, the LS engines take the good attributes of the LT5.
This car probably presented quite the challenge to Chevrolet mechanics used to 305 4-barrel Monte Carlos and 2.8 MFI Celebrities governed by the primitive Computer Command Control. But in modern context, I cannot imagine they would be that bad, if you knew what you were doing. A good mechanic who knows the car is key, as somebody pointed out.
Oh, you can’t imagine says the person than probably pushes pencils for a living. They are over complex and other than the spark plugs, nothing is easily accessible. We only got to work on them while they were on warranty, so we were getting boned by the factory because they didn’t want to pay a decent wage to work on them. Since they couldn’t control or rate of pay, they based the time they allotted for repairs on unrealistic numbers. That included those of us that knew what we were doing.
Weren’t there LT-5 trained techs back in the day?
A 455 Powered 80 T/A Actually beat one of these in a Autocross race both cars were modified – its on you tubes Bigger is Better’s videos :)
Biggerisbetter455 Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P31VDlpXR9s
@455RAIV- Pipe down! I have the little lady convinced small-to-medium is OK. Don’t need guys like you causing trouble.
I completely agree. If anyone is upto a reality check on what the zr1s are bringing. To say 20 or teens . waaaat. Maybe 5 years ago. Fox bodies granite it would be #1 are fetching 100k .
More people buy Corvettes for the look than the performance. It is a relatively small proportion of Vette owners that truly utilize all the performance. Most just cruise. The problem with the ZR1 is that it looks (to the unpracticed eye) like any other C4. How many people would want to spend $35+K on a car that looks almost the same as ones that often sell below $10K?
The reality is, most people with $35K to spend on a Corvette chose a C6.
Frank, to answer your question about trained techs, GM didn’t bother to do that before the car came out. As a matter of fact there were no tools available to the dealers to work on them. The car was so advanced at the time, if there was an engine problem dealers pulled the engines and sent them back to Mercury Marine. Internally within GM there was what I call NIH factor going on (not invented here) with Lotus designing the engine, the car did not get the attention it needed within the dealer network. The ZR1 was killed internally in 1992. As a side note, in 1990 a bone stock ZR1 with racing tires only at the Texas Speedway ran 24 hours at an average speed of 178.88 miles per hour. Breaking all previous records for 500 mile, 2500 mile, 5000 mile and for 24 hours. The record remained until recently.
@Alexco- Lotus was owned by GM at the time of the LT-5 design. Check out “The Heart of the Beast” book by Anthony Young. It is the ZR-1/LT-5 bible. Or “Corvette From The Inside” by Dave McLellan. He was Corvette Chief Engineer during ZR-1/LT-5 development.
Intake always reminds me of the aliens that stick to your face and impregnate you.
And that comment pretty much brings this discussion to a close.
Frank.S. You know so much about Corvettes and I totally respect your opinion. A few months ago you were stating that there were certain years of this model that are the best of breed. Could you give us those again? A big thank you Frank
Thanks Tim! For ZR-1’s, and if budget allows, the 1995 is the one to get. 405 HP, all of the improvements made during the C4 run in one package and overall pretty high reliability. For C4’s in general, the last two years of the run- 1995 and 1996 are truly the best of the breed. Again, budget is the key. These cars have been “discovered” over the past year and they are not quite the bargain they used to be. The LT-1/6-speed is my first choice for 1995. GM messed things up in 1996 with the LT-4 engine option being the only way to get a 6-speed. If you picked the LT-1 you got the automatic. The 1996 Collector Edition is a nice option if you like silver. The LT-4/6-speed is all the performance most of us could handle. The 1996 Grand Sport is the Big Dog but GM only made 1,000 so a Brinks truck is required. I have owned 4 Corvettes and all have been manual transmissions. Each to his/her own. I just can’t imagine driving without a clutch pedal. I also understand some folks only want or need the automatic. Having said all that, I think a 1995 6-speed coupe is the way to go.The most important thing about Corvette shopping is “TAKE YOUR TIME!!” There are 1,000’s of them for sale on any given day. And every Corvette has a story behind it. Some of them are true. If you are contemplating a purchase, join NCRS. There are chapters all over the world and it will be the best $50 you could spend. As you may notice, I dig talking Corvettes and would be happy to continue the chat on another platform to not take up too much BF space.