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Interesting to see these 2 side-by-side. The C8 makes the C4 look kinda small. Even the wide ZR-1 rear end is no match for the C8–could only imagine the new Z or E-Ray!
I’ve had the old ZR warhorse almost 30-years—have no idea where that time went…
It’s no slouch, with a built 370CI LT5, higher-duration cams, and when inclined a laughing gas shot. Love driving them back-to-back. The C8 is a refined rocket & the ZR is just plain raw by comparison. But, the C8 will leave the old girl for dead when turning the wheel & braking is involved, but until then… lol
Loving my new (to me) C8 & how different it is than any previous Gen (I’ve had ~20 Vettes from C2s & up) Gotta love all the mid-engine benefits & exotic looks.
That C4 ZR-1 reminds me of when I was selling them. We had a used one and this CAT engineer came in on a rainy Saturday and wanted to drive it. I said, "it's a ZR-1, you really can't tell anything about its capabilities in the rain, why don't we do this some other time?" He said "I want to drive it now", so we went out. I told him in ZR-1s I always drive first to get the car warmed up before I turn the power key. I turned the key and peddled it at 70 and the car jumped sideways, he was grabbing for anything he could and I looked at him and said "is this stupid enough for you?" I got out of it and the car straightened out. He said he thinks it's a better idea if he drives it in the dry and I agreed and we went back.
Back in the day, it was quite the rocket. It was my dream car—I just couldn’t believe this car was coming out back in the day of pushrod 350s, it was like Chevy put out an exotic. When I was at a point in my early career where I was able to acquire it, I swore I’d never part with it. I’m sticking to my guns! lol
OK, one more ZR-1 story. A dry warm Saturday and a good customer of mine wants to drive a ZR-1. I said OK, I drive first. I told him they're all strong, but some are real strong. We go out onto the newly paved bypass (wide lanes, smooth concrete). I peddle it for all its worth and go through a few gears. While accelerating (probably at around 70) I passed a full size GM G20 conversion van. At about 100 I back out and say "yup, seems like a good one" and we drop back down to 60MPH. After a bit the van pulls up next to us and the customer says "Hey Phil, the driver of the van is waving a badge and he's pissed". I said "he could have bought that Walmart". When I turned to go back to the dealership the van makes a radical move and comes in behind me. Instead of going back to the dealership I say we're taking some backroads and he won't stay with me there. We drive around for a while and when we pull in all the sales staff is watching for us. One of them comes up to me and says an off duty state cop came in and was pissed. He came into the dealership and talked to one of the managers. Told him he could have me arrested and the manager said "yup", he then said I was probably going 100MPH, and the manager said "yup", he then said I shouldn't be doing things like that, and all he got was "yup". He threw his hands up and left. About two hours later the manager said "you probably ought to watch it." I said "yup".
C8 divided by 2 =
