Even nearly a decade after the last one was built, the sixth-generation Corvette ZR1 still commands respect on the track. Who hasn’t gazed admiringly at that 638-horsepower engine’s intercooler proudly displayed under a clear polycarbonate window?
Now, one of the best-preserved examples of the C6 ZR1 – which was produced from 2009 to 2013 with a total of 4,684 units – is currently available on Bring a Trailer.
With just 835 miles on the odometer, this car has barely been sat in. It’s one of just 1,415 ZR1s and one of only 502 ZR1s painted in Cyber Gray during the first year of production in 2009. But it’s the person who did most of the sitting behind the wheel of this particular ZR1 that really commands your attention as retired NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon originally took delivery of the car at the National Corvette Museum.
The car was sold for charity last year, and now it’s on the market again. With six days left on the Bring a Trailer auction, the high bid is already $46,000. Not bad for a car with an original base price of $103,300.
As you might expect from just a glance at the odometer, this Corvette remains in like-new condition inside and out, including its Ebony leather interior that includes heated and power-adjustable seats, dual-zone climate control, head-up display, and Bose sound system.
It also features extensive carbon fiber body panels, some that were painted, like the raised hood and front fenders (with unique side ports) and others that were unpainted, like the fixed roof panel, roof bow, front fascia splitter, and rocker moldings.
The heart of the car, of course, was its LS9 engine, a takeoff on the base LS3 but with a new design with a 10½ quart dry sump oil lubrication system and a positive-displacement supercharger that helped it create 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft of torque, good for a top speed of 205 mph that no doubt made Jeff Gordon feel right at home behind the wheel.
Other key features of the ZR1 were its massive Brembo brakes with vented and drilled carbon-fiber-reinforced ceramic silicon carbide rotors and blue calipers – six-pistons on the front and four-pistons on the rear, along with the 3ZR Performance Equipment Group, Magnetic Ride Control, xenon headlights, heated mirrors, rear spoiler, ZR1 badging, and 19/20-inch wheels front and rear.
With Chevy switching to dual-clutch automatic transmissions with the current mid-engine generation, hard-core enthusiasts especially admire these ZR1s as they all came with six-speed manual transmissions.
Since there won’t be any more front-engine manual Corvettes made, we tend to believe that these C6 ZR1s will be a good investment for years to come. And, with an ownership history that includes a NASCAR legend and an odometer reading less than 1,000 miles, they don’t come much better than this one.
Source:
Bring A Trailer via AutoEvolution
Related:
NASCAR’s Hendricks Team Perk: Corvette ZR1s for Everyone!
Jeff Gordon’s 2009 Corvette ZR1 Raises $350,000 for Charity at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach
[VIDEO] Jeff Gordon Drives the 2015 Corvette Z06 Indy 500 Pace Car
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Fine example of superb automobile. Wish I had the cash to buy and store until the C8 Z06 arrives in 2023 and the waiting list becomes lengthy.
Really Nice Vette, Jeff. I’m a big fan of your racing and Hendricks career. Congrats on the recent promotion. You are certainly deserving.
But too bad you never drove the Vette. The low milage is pitiful…..I mean Really pitiful. The poor stallion never got a chance to stretch his strong legs……
Hope the buyer Drives that beauty.
Likely not. Another restrained garage queen, for a price now…. looking at that Vette as a mere investment with your name on it.
There is an option. I have a free service. I Drive my three Vettes, and would be happy to accommodate yours. Those horses want to run. I will make sure they do, respons
ibly.
I care for them. I put them to bed tired….but never abused. Call me. ?Best Regards, Jim Rij
Hummm something seems amiss here, look at the Amp gauge in the negative territory, that can’t be good. ya I agree it’s to bad this awesome car sat in a garage all this time. Never understood how you just let something like that sit. Gordon probaly has a few cars like this to drive. Damn it:)
Drive ’em don’t park ’em! Too many cars just sit in a garage and are not in motion as they were intended to be. That ZR1 should be on the highway doing 80 running up to temperature with it’s fluids circulating and burning gasoline! That car has no miles on it, it probably just sits in a garage week after week. I bought a Z06 from a guy who drove it only once a month! Once a month is like not driving it at all. First thing I did after having it checked out and serviced was to drive the hell out of it! 5,000 miles in three months. Those kinds of cars need to be driven and driven hard! Not abused of course because that’s counter productive.
@Kevin: Car doesn’t have a “amp” gauge, if it did, it would be a voltmeter. Cars haven’t had an amp gauge for maybe 50 years. You’re looking at the manifold pressure gauge.
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