For being the most famous and recognizable two-seater American sports car in history, the Corvette had a bit of a stigma behind it as being not quite as good as its rivals from Japan and Europe. That was of course until the C6 ZR1 was launched, after that, people were forced to take the Corvette name seriously, or risk having their car's doors blown off by 640 horsepower of supercharged all American fury.
Jetting zero to 60 in around three seconds and reaching atop speed of 210 miles per hour is territory traditionally reserved for the highest tier of mid engines European supercars, but with the ZR1 being just as fast, we can only believe it should have the same distinction of an all American supercar. Now that it's been on the used market for a number of years, expect some amazing deals to be waiting for those who look for them.
The Corvette ZR1 was the craziest and fastest Vette ever to see the light of day when it launched. Nowadays, it has great potential to be the bang for your buck best-used performance car on the market today, let's take a look at some things you should know before starting your search.
A Performance Bargain Even When Brand New
One virtue that American sports cars have over any other nation is their price, nowhere else in the world can such a high-performance vehicle be bought for so cheap. Starting around 80 thousand dollars, the ZR1 was less than half the price of equivalent Ferrari's Porsche's and Lamborghinis.
GM cut costs in ways that are apparent immediately and some less so. The fiberglass body endemic to Corvettes has been criticized for being flimsy and cheap feeling, the end result though is a body that's very cheap to make and also very lightweight.
The 6.2 liter supercharges LS9 V8 maintains a pushrod design, archaic and outdated by most standards, but so simple to make that it brings the overall cost of the car down significantly.
While not entirely spartan on the inside, materials that make up the interior are on the cheaper side as is the infotainment system. All of this aside though, these cost-cutting measures not only made for a great deal new, but an even greater deal on the resale market.
Depreciation: Bad For Used Care Salesmen, Amazing For You And Me.
They say that fifteen percent of a cars value dissapears the minute it rolls of the lot. Whether you drive the car ten miles or ten thousand miles, that inital drop in value befalls even the highest end supercars. So when depreciation strikes a car that was a bargain in its class to begin with, the results can only be positive.
There are currently two sixth generation Corvette ZR1s listed on Carfax.com in prices ranging from 65 to 72 thousand dollars. Around the same price as a brand new fully loaded BMW X5 or Cadillac Escalade. You're gurenteed to be going a fair bit faster in the ZR1 than any of those overpriced and oversised family SUVs.
Reasonably Affordable, And Decently Reliable To Boot
The Zr1 is never going to be a Toyota COrolla in terms of reliability, fuel economy or other metrics we often use to judge the worth of regular economy cars. But compared to other cars at its performance and price point, it's really not bad at all.
Having the engine in the front of the car as opposed to the middle allows for a normal sized rear cargo area as well as ample room for the driver and passenger, a problem with the new C8 corvette that's hapilly absent from its predecessor.
Drivers who opted for the six speed manual transmission with their ZR1 can even expect to get 25 or so miles to the gallon if they don't drive like a maniac and stick in top gear on the highway. That's something the equivelant Ferrari 458 or Lamborghini Aventador could never hope to achieve. Furthermore, while those European sports cars are busy in the shop having their third service this month, the LS based Corvette will carry on chugging, it wont cost an arm and a leg to have the oil changed in the ZR1 either.
Beat That, Lamborghini
Of course, you'd have to be a little bit dense in the head to buy a car like the Zr1 for its virtues as an economical car. but what it prooves if nothing else is that a supercar doesnt have to be hope;essly unreliable on top of being extremely expensive.
Traditionally, chigh performance cars were play toys for the rich and famous, nowadays, with a little saving up and a bit of ressearch. it's possible to buy a 600 plus horsepower monster that's as much of an icon of its time as anything else made alongside it.
Sources: Carfax.com