I want a ZR1, need advice

[Paul G]

I am going to move up from my 88 vert to a ZR1. I have been doing some research trying to learn as much as I can about them. I am thinking about one of the early years just to keep the price down. Speaking of price what should I expect to pay for a low mile, like under 20K mile car? It seems like prices of all cars are down right now, which means my 88 will not bring what I expect to get from it either.

What should I look for / look out for in a ZR1, I mean items that are ZR1 specific?

Are the 90's (first year) undesirable?

Does the 25 HP gain in 93 make that much of a difference? It seems like the 93 to 95 models are bringing a lot more $ than the 90 to 92's.

Any suggestions are really appreciated. I wish I new what I know now about Corvettes before I bought my 88 4 years ago.

 

[Jeffvette]

Find the best car you can afford

The early cars are also lighter than the later 405 horse motor cars, and perform roughly the same.

Check out www.zr1.net for lots of info.

 

[phrogs]

I bought a 90 because I like the old nose with the big ass!
but id say a nice one with under 20K miles is probably mid 20's right now I paid 24K for my car 2 years ago and it had 28,000 miles..
I just passed 36,000 and I have enjoyed every mile!
It all depends on the body style you want really.

and how much you can spend
johnny

 

[95ZR1#418]

Hi-

A year & a half ago I sold my '88 Z51 for 15K, it was mint. I researched ZR-1's for 2 years and knew I had to have a '95 rare color with low miles to get the overall best deal if I ever decided to sell it. Not to mention they(the '95's) were the most refined ZR-1's ever made with no comparison to "extra's, or options". I may have bought the perfect '94 but I would always feel cheated if I didn't wait for the right '95. You can find deals even with a '95 if it has high milage, it's just that there aren't many '95's on the market.

Here is what I bought: http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/88z51coupe/

You will always pay more for fewer miles but you will never regret waiting for the 405 HP

Good luck in your search... Bob

P.S. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions
SynapseZ51@Yahoo.com

 

[Paul G]

That is one sweet ZR1 you have. I guess it was worth the wait.

Paul

 

[FrankUrbinati]

1991 ZR1 White with Gray interior.Less than 10k mi. on Vette Dr's 368 package. 4:09 gear's. A mold wheel's. Passed tough NYS Emission inspection. Under 38k mi. on car. All fresh synthetic fluid's. Need's absolutely nothing. Can be seen at: http://96lt4.com/ZR1/urb91.html
29K firm

 

[Rob]

Paul,

You can find a lot of information on ZR-1s here in our Model Center:

http://corvetteactioncenter.com/specs/zr1/

In terms of desirability, I would probably say that out of all 6 years of production, the '91 is probably the most undesirable if you had to label a ZR-1 undesirable.

The reason I say that is that the '90 had the most unique body style in relation to the black side strip, the older style front bumper and the rear ZR-1 bumper cap.

In '91, the body side molding became the same color of the car and the front end was redesigned to match the new style used on the base model.

In 1992, the same styling carried through, but you also got ASR or Anti-Slip Regulation which was the traction control system new for the '92 Model Year.

In terms of performance, the first generation ZR-1s '90-'92 are comparable to the second generation '93-'95 because they were a little less heavy. According to GM Powertrain engineer, Jim Ingle, the '90 was the lightest (other than the '89 prototypes), but gradually, the ZR-1 gained weight. The extra 30 hp seen in the second generation isn't really much when looking at the gradual weight gain. Peformance numbers are all very close. Check out:

http://corvetteactioncenter.com/specs/zr1/zr1perf.html

In my opinion, when buying a ZR-1, regardless of year, you just can't go wrong. Hope this helps and keep us posted!

 

[Redmanf1]

Hi Paul,
Prices are all over the place. I watched a 1995 ZR-1 black & saddle sell on eBay with 23000 miles. It brought $31,400.00 and was a trade in to a new chev dealer. I am pretty sure it is the one that H & H corvettes are now trying to get $41,000.00 for. I know of a 1992 sold with 26000 miles for $22,700.00 it was a beautiful car. He had it for sale for about a year before he received a serious offer. Seems they can be a hard sell item I guess some people are afraid of there reliability but they are a great car.

 

[Brett]

Prices seem to really, really fluctuate with ZR-1's, as I watch them closely on eBay and auto-traders. I have seen many very nice ones go for ridiculously cheap prices on eBay, and conversely I have seen people want way too much for them in the Corvette auto-trader. So my advice is to be to pick what year you want, and then be patient and wait for the good deal to come to you (that's what I'm doing ).

As for model years, for me personally a '95 would be ideal, just because of the age, refinements (there were several), and the extra horsepower. Plus I love the new side vents that were introduced in '95.

However, the '90 year is a close second, because I love the sharper nose of the earlier C4's, and the black center-line is really sharp. The '90 year is also supposed to be the lightest, and when you can get a very nice '90 for about $20,000 less than a '95, that speaks VERY loudly to your sensible side.....

Also, since the LT5's were hand-built, there seem to be many ZR-1's out there that push a lot more horsepower than the factory ratings. If I knew that a '90 was a hot one, that would be my purchase in a heartbeat.



Brett

 

[bans25]

Personly, I was less interested in "what my car would be worth in the future". I bought the Z to drive, and have fun with.

I like all of the ZR-1s, there is no color Z that I would not drive. I looked for a very nice condition clean car, I found one.. a 90 Red/red (Which I really like). Yes there are a lot of red 90's out there, but there is a reason.. Red sells!
and there are alot of deals out there, I will be using the $ saved and buying goodies!

 

[hooks]

i also like the 90 model & agree that the 95 is rare & desirable, but wonder why nobody mentioned the highly desirable 93 ruby red---you will indeed pay more for this car, but there are those who say the 93 ruby zr1 is the ultimate collector zr1---any comments??

 

[Jeffvette]

i also like the 90 model & agree that the 95 is rare & desirable, but wonder why nobody mentioned the highly desirable 93 ruby red---you will indeed pay more for this car, but there are those who say the 93 ruby zr1 is the ultimate collector zr1---any comments??

Why, more than half of all 93's were Ruby cars? Special edition paint jobs typically have never faired very well.

There are less Steel Blue cars, Dark Purple, Admiral Blue and Competition Yellow cars than Rubies....

 

[B17Crew]

i also like the 90 model & agree that the 95 is rare & desirable, but wonder why nobody mentioned the highly desirable 93 ruby red---you will indeed pay more for this car, but there are those who say the 93 ruby zr1 is the ultimate collector zr1---any comments??

True the 93 40th Ruby Red car is beautiful. I was walking through a dealers warehouse where they house their Corvette’s that are for sale. As I strolled along, it stopped me dead in my tracks; a perfect 40th ZR-1, 50 miles on. It had just been sold. It was part of the owners (Buds Chevrolet in St Marys, Ohio) personal collection. A stunning car. Yellow looks good on the Z too, only ever have seen one yellow one, it was a 95 with Light Beige interior.

http://www.budschevy.com/inventory.cfm?category=Corvette Collector

I asked how much it was going for, the salesman told me it had sold to a guy overseas for $50,000.00.

B17Crew

 

[hooks]

my point was not that "ruby red" was all that desirable,my point was that the zr-1 in ruby red is--only 448 zr-1s were made in 1993--if i remember correctly about 245 were zr-1s in ruby--- there is also the admiral blue zr-1---a great color & even more rare than the ruby, but price wise not as expensive---could it be that the combo of ruby red & zr-1 is pretty damn desirable?? come on --aren't there some zr-1 guys out there with ruby paint jobs to support my opinion?? my car is a ruby but not a zr-1--i visit this site quite often since i plan to get a ruby zr-1 someday--comments???

 

[Brett]

Anniversary editions have never done anything for me.

Color doesn't pull that much weight. Almost every color is "rare" when you start talking about total production numbers as small as 448 a year. The '95s have the most refinement and options. If you look at ZR-1 prices, they are by far the most valuable.

 

[95ZR1#418]

Hello Hooks16golf :confused


This is what I did to consider the best ZR-1 to buy. I lurked on the ZR1Net, CF-ZR-1, and CAC-ZR-1 forums for two years(probably less here)reading all the posts, almost daily. I had sold my '88 and had the cash ready to buy for over a year. After reading everything on the cars, having most of the books, reading all the posts, and reviewing every ZR-1 on the internet(~40 websites checked 2x/week)for sale, I asked myself what is the best of them all to own?

My answer was hands down a late '95 with Dunn Heads and Brite Aqua/black or grey interior. You have to do the above to understand, I won't give my opinions beyond this because people feel insulted & this post will turn into a battle field. I hunted for the Aqua(had to be a rare color & I liked the BA the best) and sort of found it in Bakersfield CA. I had hunted down the owners of 7 of the 13 Brite Aqua's. I kept on the Bakersfield car as well as the Stockton car because they considered my offers. Finally a Dark Red came along(16 of those)meeting all the requirements with 3K miles on it. Within minuets of that car going up for sale Art Wong contacted me about it and I basically sealed that deal that evening. About two weeks later the Bakersfield car went up for sale(which I would have bought sight unseen)and remained for sale for at least a year I think. I had to have either BA, DR, or AB, in that order with very low miles and pure stock. Now I have people who inquire about it's availability on a regular basis(but I'm sure not when I'm willing to sell it).

In the end you will buy what you can afford so then nothing makes any difference, you have a ZR-1 like all the other ZR-1's, a few differences here & there. If you plan to drive it allot don't waste your money on something like mine, you could get a beuty for much less.

 

[SPEEDEMON]

Paul


Decide what you really want and hold out until you get it. Don’t cut your self-short and get something that you’re not that sure of just because the price was right. Having the right car is better than saving thousands in the bank. I searched for my ZR-1 for close to 5 years and had to go coast to coast to get it. Getting a 95 with Dunn heads was my only option. Anything less than that was not an option for me. So take your time and get the one you really want.

 

[hooks]

thanks, very good information--will keep it in mind--about what price range if you don't mind saying for that color? the rare admiral blue (only 12 produced) would probably cost approx. the same--that's the one i would really like to have.thanks again.

 

[B17Crew]

thanks, very good information--will keep it in mind--about what price range if you don't mind saying for that color? the rare admiral blue (only 12 produced) would probably cost approx. the same--that's the one i would really like to have.thanks again.

For reference, Rogers has one:
http://www.rogerscorvette.com/car.php?CarID=1366

B17Crew

 

[Demps]

Rumor has it that the car at Roger's has had some body work--I have not seen the car and cannot confirm it. But I too love Admiral Blue......and Black/Red.......and Red/Beige.


Buy the best car you can afford and enjoy it.