VIDEO: Jason Cammisa Chronicles the Rise & Fall of the C4 Corvette ZR1!

The C4 Corvette ZR1 was a king of the hill, world beating sports car that shattered records. So why was it such a marketplace failure?

To say that the C4 Corvette ZR1 was a special car is like saying Albert Einstein was a special physicist. It is a bit of an understatement. Like Einstein the C4 ZR1 changed the world. Some things to consider. The C4 ZR1 option package was over $27,000. That was the single most expensive option in the history of Detroit automobiles. It was the most powerful American production car. The C4 ZR1 broke several performance records, including an endurance speed record that stood for over 50 years. The 32-valve V8 breathed through 16 individual intake runners and needed two keys to unleash full power. Automotive journalists and enthusiasts alike lost their minds over this car. Yet, it was an utter flop in the market. Why?

A new episode of Revelations hosted by Jason Cammisa was recently posted on the Hagerty YouTube channel. And in this episode Cammisa explains all the amazing technical details about the top dog C4. He also explains why in spite of all the accolades and accomplishments that the C4 ZR1 was not a success from a sales perspective.

The highlights are many. “It was the quickest accelerating car you could buy, it was the fastest too with the exception of one 12-cylinder Ferrari. It generated the highest skid pad grip ever recorded. Posted the second-best slalom numbers the world had ever seen. It was called the most capable handling car on the planet. It decimated a Porsche 911 Turbo around a racetrack. And it cost half the money.” Explains Cammisa. Well, that sure sounds like a recipe for success. On top of the previous accolades there are other cool tidbits to know about the C4 ZR1. For example, the radiator was angled back 15 degrees. One reason is it helped with cooling. But the other, and far more interesting reason is that it made it much tougher for the police to time it with radar. Yes, the C4 ZR1 was designed to help you speed.

The heart of the car is the LT5 V8 that was designed by Lotus. It was a marvelous engine but neither Lotus nor GM had the capacity to actually build it. So, it was farmed out to Mercury Marine to build for production cars. The first generation of the engine made an impressive 375 horsepower. In addition, a second key was required to enable the engine to run with all intake runners open and generate maximum power. It was brilliant and quirky. So, there is a lot to love here. Why did it flop?

A number of factors played a role into the poor sales of the ZR1. First, the car was expensive for a Corvette. It may have been a bargain compared to a 911 Turbo, but it was twice the price of a base Corvette. The 1991 recession made the price even more painful. And while a lot of money went into the go faster bits, the interior was basically untouched from the standard C4. That is to say you were driving a very expensive car with a very uninspiring interior. Also, your expensive ZR1 looked almost exactly like the base car. Ironically the wonderful engine was also part of the downfall. Aside from reliability concerns the GM small block team were not happy that Lotus designed this engine. So, they worked hard on a new V8 and eventually gave birth to the legendary LS that made nearly the same power.

The C4 ZR1 remains an iconic Corvette. And in a way it helped lead to the development of the legendary LS platform. So from a sales perspective it may have been a failure. But from an automotive history perspective, it changed the world. Check out the video to learn all about this fascinating car and its history.

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