See all my Corvettes at 2010corvette.com
This beauty was in our collection for 4 years and won awards every year at various local shows. It was also featured in VETTE magazine in 2002. It was sold and replaced with a torch red 2004 Corvette Convertible.
The Corvette received a new 6-speed manual transmission, as well as air bags in 1990. The standard 350 V8 gained 5 bhp due to a slight increase in the compression ratio. However, the big news was the introduction of the "King of the Hill" Corvette: the ZR-1 (RPO ZR1). The ZR-1's main feature was the LT5, a highly modified version of the 350 V8, developed with the help of Lotus, and built by Mercury Marine. The LT5 featured a very modern dual overhead cam, 32 valve design which put out a whopping 375 bhp. The ZR-1 also featured a distinctively wider back end and square tail lamps. The main problem was price. The ZR-1 cost nearly $59,000 (and many sold for much more than MSRP), compared to the base coupe priced at $32,000.
See all my Corvettes at 2010corvette.com
Production: 23,646
Coupe: 12,967
Convertible: 7,630
ZR-1 Coupe: 3,049
Engine:
Coupe: 350 V8 250 bhp @ 4400 rpm, 350 lb-ft @ 3200 rpm.
SAVE THE WAVE
There's one item of standard equipment that comes as a pleasant surprise to every new Corvette owner. It's an instant wave of recognition he or she recieves when they meets one of their fellow Vette owners on the road. Ever since Corvette No. 00001 first met Corvette No. 00002 on the road, their drivers saluted each other with waves. A good Vette owner relishes encountering other Vettes as he drives. At first he experiments with his waves, running the gamut from the gaping "yoo hoo" to the ultra cool "two finger flip." He perfects his timing, making sure he affects neither a too-early wave, nor the jaded "oh brother" too-late variety. Determined not to be one upped, he even developes a defense mechanism for non wavers, usually settling on the "Wave"? My hand was just on the way to scratch my head" approach. (This is especially useful when you're not driving your Vette, but you forget, and like a dummy, you wave anyway.)
Indeed, one of the most perplexing problems facing a would-be waver is what to do when driving next to a fellow Vette owner. Passing him going in opposite directions is one thing. Greetings are exchanged, and that's that. But what happens when you pull up next to a guy at a light, wave, nod, smile and then pull up to him at the next light, a block later? Wave again? Nod bashfully? Grin self-consciously? Ignore him? Or take the chicken's way out and turn down the next side street? If you're expecting an answer, you won't find it here. Sad to say, some questions don't have any.
Girl-type Corvette drivers also have a unique problem: to wave or not to wave. This miss or misses who borrows her man's Corvette for the first time is immediately faced with this quandary. Should she wave first and look overly friendly, or ignore the wave and look like a snob? Most ladies who drive their own Vettes prefer to suffer the latter rather than take a chance of being misread. For this reason, all girls are excused for occassionally failing to return a well-meaning wave. So are new owners who are still learning the ropes.
There is no excuse, however, for a guy who refuses to return the wave, not out of ignorance, but of arrogance or apathy. While this type of behavior is the exception to the rule, it seems a few owners of newer models refuse to recognize anything older than theirs, while some others simply won't wave, period. Boo on them. These ding-a-lings don't seem to realize that they are helping to squash a tradition that had its beginnings back when most of us were still driving tootsietoys.
See all my Corvettes at 2010corvette.com
