How About a Near New 1995 ZR-1 C4 For a Weekend Car?

Back in the day

When these C4 ZR-1s were new, they were Ferrari beaters and are still one of the best cars that GM has ever turned out. The price tag that goes along with that kind of quality was about $58,995 which is around $110,000 with today's price inflation. After the emissions fiasco that neutered the V8 in the c3, GM made the move with the C4 to develop a double overhead cam engine at the Lotus plant in England. 

Good to go

However, after finding out that the engine would be too large to install from underneath the chassis the boys developed a new aluminum block engine. The production of that engine was delegated to Mercury Marine's MerCruiser division where 18 quality controlled engines were produced each day and sent to Bowling Green for installs. Those engines were given the designation of LT5 and made 375 bhp. The ZR-1 looked a lot like a normal C4 but there were differences for the eagle-eyed to spot. The tail on the ZR-1 was convex instead of concave and the taillights were squares instead of circles. Here is a video for the 1992 ZR-1 Engine Plant Tour. 

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Valet mode for the haters

Those LT5 engines, once back in Bowling Green, were mated to a six-speed manual, a Lotus-tuned FX-3 "active ride" suspension, and upgraded braking. In total, there were around just 6,400 C4 ZR-1s manufactured before the C5 made its debut. 

The ZR-1 also has a pretty neat feature of being possibly the first ever production car with a valet mode. The safe mode disabled the secondary intake ports and limited the engine to about 200 bhp. On the other side is the normal mode where you got all of that sweet 375-380bhp at your beck and call. Later, the ZR-1 cars got a power boost in 1993 that sent the bhp number up to 405. 

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It's been straight chillin'

So what makes this particular example so amazing? This car is basically new with just 2,470 miles on the odometer. Like, gag me with a spoon even! This Vette spent the majority of its life sitting inside a climate controlled indoor space with other fancy cars. The seller says that this is just 1 of 45 1995 ZR-1s that received a white paint job. The interior looks magnificent with high bolstered buckets and a bit too narrow footwell that will challenge your notion of heel-toe mastery.

>>Join the conversation about this C4 up for sale on eBay right now right here in Corvette Forum.

It's all that and a bag of chips

The auction is up now and has a 'buy it now' price of just a hair under $45 grand. If you are riding high on the nostalgia train or just want to own a piece of automotive history, then check it out before it's gone. I would be remiss if I didn't play devil's advocate and mention that for another ten grand on that buy it now price, you can go get a nice new C7 instead. Just saying. 

>>Join the conversation about this C4 up for sale on eBay right now right here in Corvette Forum.

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