Corvette ZR1 Caught On Video Ahead of Debut

by Sam Stockley
October 22, 2007 3:54 PM
Filed Under: American, Chevrolet

The 2009 Corvette ZR1 has been caught on video at America's Le Mans Series on Laguna Seca's raceway, burning rubber on what is America's premier race course track - just ahead of its Detroit Show debut in January.

Despite a number of reports maintaining an official debut was conducted on the grounds, the car did not receive an impromtu unveiling. Motor Trend instead claim that the 'Vette was snuck onto the track, undergoing a few hot laps before returning to its trailer, headed presumably for Detroit. The ZR1 follows in the footsteps of Nissan's publicity stunt with their GT-R taking to the track at Goodwood - does this spell an end to curtains-up unveilings?

Sneakily wearing the same 'Velocity Yellow' colours as its race track sibling, the ZR1 also had the now-familiar black coverings as seen in spy shots of the car - doing little to reveal its most interesting features.

Power comes from a new supercharged 6.2-litre V8 engine dubbed 'LS9', estimated to pump out in excess of 600 hp and expected to shoot the ZR1 to 60 mph in under 3.5 seconds. Lap times are unfortunately as yet under lock and key, although with news from Jalopnik of a $1000 reward for new shots of the car in the paddock and on the track at Laguna Seca, further photos and information may very well surface soon.

Priced from $100,000, the ZR1 will be entering showrooms as a 2009 model mid next year, with annual production expected to be between 1500 and 1750 units.

Source: ALMS via Jalopnik
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Comments

Cool! Much better looking than the Nissan

by Rolli | October 22, 2007 4:19 PM
The 911 can do Nordschleife in under 7:30

by silversedanman | October 22, 2007 4:59 PM
yo i wana see this porche do 7:30 show me and i have a 1970 camero rs,ss that would smoke ur porche

by malaka | October 22, 2007 5:58 PM
my bad its a camaro 1970 ss

by malaka | October 22, 2007 6:03 PM
my bro got kiked off this site because u made fun of mercadez mclaren slr and he proved u wrong too

by malaka | October 22, 2007 6:09 PM
Malaka, I invite you to contact us at feeback[at]worldcarfans.com, if you believe your bro has been kicked off. Currently we have only ever deleted comments that are spam.

by clinton | October 22, 2007 6:14 PM
any car its better than an American "car" ....porsche of course blast a corvete long time ago

by _M7_ | October 22, 2007 8:02 PM
mannnn look how twitchy it is in the corners and braking man. If they dont fix that up its gonna be hell for normal people to drive

by skychao | October 22, 2007 10:34 PM
there is no way a 1970 camaro can do 7:30 on nordscheife. Is this guy joking...seriously? American sports cars do not sell as well as German ones even if they are the same price.

by silversedanman | October 23, 2007 4:12 AM
u do realize the c5s, c6s both smoke porches right... i mean do they post videos of porshes beating vettes on you tube i've yet to see one probably b/c of the rare chance it has happened their wasn't a camera around... i mean don't get me wrong i respect porches and other manufactures that aren't GM too but it's the american sports car thats been the underdog since day 1 cost a good bit less and runs laps around most other sports cars... i mean ya'll are still saying we got 2 cams and their still beating us *scratches head* get used to getting beat by a corvette it happens... alot -Drag

by drag | October 23, 2007 6:14 AM
Hey I think your videos of the corvettes beating a porsche must be what your name is. try 7:30 norschleife stock Porsche 911 vs stock corvette. A track with turns! Not just a lefty loop either... Any moron can put a massive motor in an unengineered car, which might I add is so unsophisticated that you cannot use it for daily driving year round.

by silversedanman | October 23, 2007 3:03 PM
porsche 911, corvette C6,, GT - R will smoke them out....

by phobos | October 23, 2007 5:39 PM
dude if we wanna go by names u drive a maxima therefore u have no idea what a porche drives like...:( i'm looking everywhere and not seeing a 7m 30s run on a porche maybe on one of the minor tracks but not seeing it anywhere using google.. bad talk a corvette ur the one thats missing out ur loss end of convo

by drag | October 23, 2007 7:53 PM
HAHAHAHA i got offical times right here: 7:59 - Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z51,405 PS/1481 kg, driver Dave Hill (manufacturer claim) 7:59 - Subaru Impreza Sti Spec-C (Prototype), 280 PS/1370 kg (Subaru News 2004 [4]) 8:01 - Bugatti EB 110 Supersport, 610 PS/1410 kg [citation needed] 8:01 - Nissan Skyline GT-R R33, 280 PS/37.5 kgf·m/1540 kg, Motoharu Kurosawa (Best Motoring - Video Special DVD Series [The R33 GT-R]) 8:02 - Mercedes CLK 63 AMG - Black Series, 507 PS/ 1790 kg (autobild 07/07) 8:03 - Aston Martin V8 Vantage (2005), 380 bhp/1570 kg (sport auto 10/05) 8:03 - Porsche 911 GT3, 360 PS/1391 kg (sport auto 08/99)

Thats about half way down the list but thats the first 911 listed theirs several 997s before the vette but u were full of crap that was the first 911 listed at 8:03 and thats a 99 gt3 so that means... theirs not a stock 911 even on the top fastest times... FACE!!

by drag | October 23, 2007 8:00 PM
Laguna seca is not real test .. Nurburgring is.

by abu-fahd | October 25, 2007 1:27 AM
you guys are kidding me rite have u ever been to an auction american cars sell 2 as much as german ur crazy im telling you that a 1970 camaro will smoke a porche its been proven especially on the 1/4 mile.

by malaka | October 25, 2007 1:29 AM

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