Heresy, or just plain fun? A 1990 ZR1 Story.

david c. · 10-23-2018, 08:51 PM

Lifelong Porsche fan here. Pelican patron since the 90's, too. I've never owned a Corvette. But for some reason I have had a bug lately to find a nice C4 Corvette. Somehow, a 1990 ZR1 followed me home earlier this month. 22k miles. All books and records. Totally original survivor condition. Only the tires keep it from being other than as-new.

The original owner paid just a hair over $75k for it in 1990. That includes a $10k premium over sticker. (I have the original bill of sale and window sticker.)

I have to say, it's kinda fun to drive. It revs quickly, and it's pretty damned fast. I have a 2017 GT350 as well, and the ZR1 doesn't feel much slower although it's nowhere near as solid.

So, perhaps this is heresy. I don't know. But it's entertaining me right now, and I figure it's probably at the bottom of its depreciation curve, whereas the equivalent 911 (84-89 era....?) has obviously had a surge in value in recent years. For the $16k I paid for this thing, it is a lot of fun for the money.

Here's a pic. I'm putting on my flame suit now!

Evans, Marv · 10-23-2018, 08:56 PM

Why put on a flame suit?? What's fun is fun plain & simple.

david c. · 10-23-2018, 08:58 PM

That was my thinking too. But I'll tell you this: I showed the Vette to one of my buddies on Sunday. He sat in it, and started opening the center armrest console, then the glove box. I said "what are you doing?" He said, "Looking for the Whitesnake cassette...."

JackDidley · JackDidley's Garage

Ex Vette guy here and that is one of my favorite cars. Great bang for the buck and actually a car that you can have fun driving, not just waxing.

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

You should bring it to the Radwood show in LA in December!

david c. · 10-23-2018, 10:02 PM

Noah, what's Radwood? I'm all up for a road trip to Hell-A in the Vette.

onewhippedpuppy · 10-24-2018, 03:59 AM

That's pretty cool. I've always thought the C4 ZR1 was undervalued, it was the start of a return to form for one of America's most iconic cars. The C3 was generally a joke, and the C4 up to the ZR1 was an emissions controlled shadow of a legend. The ZR1 brought real performance back to the Corvette, and was a big deal at the time.

How has the interior held up? I've been in a few and they always felt cheap. Otherwise they are damn good looking car, as a child of the '80s it's always resonated with me.

id10t · 10-24-2018, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david c.

That was my thinking too. But I'll tell you this: I showed the Vette to one of my buddies on Sunday. He sat in it, and started opening the center armrest console, then the glove box. I said "what are you doing?" He said, "Looking for the Whitesnake cassette...."

Heh. I left a Dire Straights tape (Money for Nothing) in the '84 911 I sold to Shaun... really appropriate for the car's era

HardDrive · 10-24-2018, 04:39 AM

Sounds fun to me! Hell, I've got a Mustang, I'm not casting stones. There are many different flavors of fun, why limit yourself?

Seahawk · 10-24-2018, 05:27 AM

There is a bit of a trend with friends of mine I have known for decades to trade in sub $20k car fun, all makes and models of cars from Corvettes, Miatas, RX-7s, 944's, Toyota Land Cruisers, 90's Mercedes, etc...

Buy, drive, enjoy and sell without any real penalties or worry.

Even if the thing becomes an motorized IED, your exposure is minimal.

Concerning the OP, nicely done...looks like a hoot.

onewhippedpuppy · 10-24-2018, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seahawk

There is a bit of a trend with friends of mine I have known for decades to trade in sub $20k car fun, all makes and models of cars from Corvettes, Miatas, RX-7s, 944's, Toyota Land Cruisers, 90's Mercedes, etc...

Buy, drive, enjoy and sell without any real penalties or worry.

Even if the thing becomes an motorized IED, your exposure is minimal.

Concerning the OP, nicely done...looks like a hoot.

Part of a fun car for me is not worrying about driving it. The nice thing about an older cheap car is that you don't have much financial exposure if something goes wrong, and that you can almost always get your money back. There were places and situations in which I wouldn't drive my 911 due to concern over damage, theft, or weather. Not so much with my RX-8!

LWJ · 10-24-2018, 05:58 AM

I would scour the earth to find a white snake cassette. Put it in the console. It belongs there (in a good way)

Congrats. Fun ride!

Seahawk · 10-24-2018, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Part of a fun car for me is not worrying about driving it. The nice thing about an older cheap car is that you don't have much financial exposure if something goes wrong, and that you can almost always get your money back. There were places and situations in which I wouldn't drive my 911 due to concern over damage, theft, or weather. Not so much with my RX-8!

Sorry to hijack!

^^^Exactly.

A friend of mine just bought a SAAB 900 Turbo convertible for well under 15K a month ago.

We took it for a drive last week end: Holy-molly what fun weekend, occasional DD auto!

VincentVega · 10-24-2018, 06:22 AM

Nice get! I was in high school when they came out and remember how they were the bees knees. Pretty impressive tech for the time.

x10 in 'cheap' fun. I friend and I picked up a cheap boat to race this summer and its been so much fun. Not that I dont care about it but... just use the #$%$ out of it and have fun.

fastfredracing · 10-24-2018, 06:37 AM

Love it Dave !

aschen · 10-24-2018, 06:58 AM

Nope. Its awesome and it seem like you got a very nice example.

400hp was shock and awe when that thing came out.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Will look through my old cassette box and see if I can find something appropriate for the console

I like Corvettes, unless I am racing against them

pwd72s · 10-24-2018, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LWJ

I would scour the earth to find a white snake cassette. Put it in the console. It belongs there (in a good way)

Congrats. Fun ride!

I still have a working Nakamichi cassette deck. Send a CD, I can make a cassette...Probably wouldn't be the same as a commercial one tho...not the right label.

pwd72s · 10-24-2018, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seahawk

There is a bit of a trend with friends of mine I have known for decades to trade in sub $20k car fun, all makes and models of cars from Corvettes, Miatas, RX-7s, 944's, Toyota Land Cruisers, 90's Mercedes, etc...

Buy, drive, enjoy and sell without any real penalties or worry.

Even if the thing becomes an motorized IED, your exposure is minimal.

Concerning the OP, nicely done...looks like a hoot.

Truth! Hell, an engine rebuild on my old 1972 911S would run more money than I paid for my '09 Mustang Bullitt new. But then, P-car ownership never was a logical thing for me.

911boost · 911boost's Garage

I have that whitesnake album on cassette....

Great looking and fun car!