To make sure their latest supercar is ready to be a daily driver, Chevrolet engineers were caught testing the upcoming Corvette ZR1 along with several other support cars. The ZR1 will always be the king of GM’s product offering, as a fitting tribute to a prolific Chief Engineer. Zora Duntov was a Russian Jew who barely escaped Paris before Nazi tanks arrived. Racing at top speed in his modified Alfa, he and his wife were only a few miles ahead of the advancing German onslaught.
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As Corvette’s Chief Engineer from 1955 to 1975, he reserved the ZR1 name for the ultimate street machine. Zora’s influence on Chevrolet’s performance vehicles also led to advances in racing, as he secretly built five Grand Sport race cars in 1963. Protecting the latest Corvette from spy photographers has been difficult, with many automotive journalists speculating on engine and body changes.
What you see below is the first HD footage of the ZR1 in action. Zora’s successor Dave McLellan told me the old man always envisioned the ZR1 as a 7.0-liter mid-engined twin turbo AWD hypercar, but the experimental cars like the CERV and Corvette Indy were killed by the bean counters.
We don’t like to speculate on the differences, but the most obvious upgrades are a giant rear spoiler and a revised front grille. The Z06 on steroids will hopefully switch to a twin-turbo design instead of the supercharger for improved fuel economy and less heat soak issues. We might have to take a day trip to the Corvette Assembly plant after the Nashville Auto Show (November 18-20) to see if we can catch them rolling off the line. We tip our hats for the clean footage from IndianAutosBlog, so stay with us for more Corvette news.
