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Production Begins for Supercharged Corvette ZR1 Motor

Rob

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Production Begins for Supercharged Corvette ZR1 Motor

Date posted: 06-22-2008
Edmunds.com

WIXOM, Michigan — Production began Friday on the 638-horsepower supercharged monster motor that will power the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.

Two very special LS9 engines were built Friday at General Motors' Performance Build Center in a nondescript 100,000-square-foot facility tucked in the back of a light industrial area.

The first special motor was the one that will power the first retail sale ZR1. That car, which will be built next month in the Bowling Green, Kentucky plant, was recently sold at auction for a scant $1 million. (The proceeds went to charity.)

The somewhat less compelling special motor was the one built in part by, well, me. Or I should say it was built by Gary Andrews, one of 25 skilled builders in the little plant. I was most useful in the role of standing around in a silly blue lab coat and ill-fitting safety glasses. But I torqued a bunch of pricey parts on and therefore felt justified in signing the metal cover between the cylinder banks with a Sharpie. So in the almost inconceivable event that something goes wrong with my, er, Gary's motor, GM will know why they hadn't invited me to build them a motor before.

The Wixom facility can pump out about 45 LS9 motors every week and uses the one-builder/one-engine philosophy borrowed from AMG. And yes, each builder has his own signed plaque that gets applied to every motor he builds. The facility, which opened in 2005, also builds the LS7 engine for the Z06 Corvette and the supercharged Northstar V8s for the Cadillac STS-V and XLR-V, although as you might imagine, they build only a couple of those per week.

What this means to you: The ZR1 inches ever closer to the streets. Also, if you happen to buy the ZR1 with the LS9 I built, I will buy you a lifetime subscription to Inside Line. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
 

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