C6 Corvette ZR1 Total Production Breakdown

In 2019, we sent off the C7-generation of America’s Sports Car with our first-ever entire production run analysis (instead of our supremely popular year-by-year rundowns). That series looked at the one-year run of the ZR1, the total Z06 production window of 2015-19, and the whole three-year span of Grand Sport builds. When the C8 reaches the end of the road, you can expect it to get the same treatment, but for now, we would like to retroactively create model references for great ‘Vettes of the past to help our readers figure out exactly how rare their cars are, and assist prospective owners with decoding exactly how difficult their ideal spec is to find. Welcome to our first archival production post, which we are dedicating to the C6 ZR1 that changed the world performance landscape forever when it debuted in 2009. Enjoy, and keep your eyes peeled for a breakdown of your favorite model on CorvetteBlogger.com.

How Many C6 ZR1s were Produced?

The first factory supercharged Corvette enjoyed a five-year production run during which 4,695 examples rolled off the line at Bowling Green. That run was extremely front-loaded, with 1,415 Blue Devils finding homes in 2009 and a highwater mark of 1,577 produced in 2010. Those first two years account for a whopping 63.7% of the ZR1’s lifetime sales. Production fell under four digits in year three, with a final tally of 817. In 2012, that number was more than cut in half when it only reached 404, but 2013 saw a last-year resurgence when transactions were up more than 16% at 482.

Compared to the previous ZR-1, the C6 King of the Hill is the rarer beast by more than 2,200 units. The DOHC C4 version enjoyed a six-year service life that saw 6,922 GM/Lotus/Mercury Marine collaborations sent into the world. The declining ZR1 production trend continued into the C7 generation when the 2019 became the rarest car ever to wear the badge that evolved out of an obscure handling package for C3 Corvettes.

ZR1s By Color

Overall, the C6 ZR1 was offered in 16 different exterior paints. Of those, only Cyber Gray, Blade Silver, and Velocity Yellow survived for all five years. Cyber Grey found itself on 949 ZR1s over that span which was good for second place overall. With final counts of 280 and 272, the other OGs, Silver, and Yellow, could only muster 6th and 7th place on the popularity chart. The ZR1’s gold medal color was the creatively named Black that racked up an astonishing 1,043 orders, in spite of taking a year off in 2012. After Black and Cyber Gray on the color podium is the ZR1’s signature color, Jetstream Blue. It was slathered on 464 ZR1s during its time in the order guide (2009-11). A pair of colors that joined the palette for the ZR1’s sophomore campaign completes the top five. Those would be Arctic White (422) and Torch Red (373), respectively.

Other than the one-off VIN 001 LeMans Blue car, the rarest ZR1 color was the 11-units registered by 2012-exclusive Carlisle Blue. Moving up through the basement from there, we encounter Atomic Orange next with an early 2009 run that amounted to 35 examples, then comes the 54 Night Race Blue cars from the final year of production. Inferno Orange is the only other color that didn’t make it into three-digit territory, with a three-year total of 69.

The meat in this ZR1 exterior color sandwich is made up of Crystal Red (265), the Carbon Flash of the Centennial Edition (206), Victory Red (130), and Supersonic Blue (121).

Options of Note

While exterior paint options are the easiest and most fun way to categorize any Corvette, the C6 ZR1 was built with a handful of other differentiating RPOs. The first of these has to be the pair of available interior trim levels. The top-of-the-line “3ZR” equipment group proved to be a far more popular option. It outsold the base 1ZR by a margin of nearly 9 to 1. All told, 3,997 ZR1 buyers opted for the fully-spec’d 3ZR, while only 476 ditched the DVD-based navigation screen and leather-wrapped dash (and also saved $10 grand) by checking the 1ZR box.

Interior color choices would also end up extremely lopsided. Ebony interiors of any sort were installed in 67.7% (3,180) of all ZR1s. Dark Titanium interiors made up the bulk of the rest (21.3%) with 999 orders. After those two, nobody was tripping over themselves for another color. Third place went to the 60th Anniversary Edition’s unique Blue Diamond leather at 138, followed closely by the only other hue to break into the hundreds, which was surprisingly the two-year Sienna color (127). Light Titanium is noteworthy as it only made it into 15 units. Cashmere (96), Red-trimmed Ebony (69), and Linen (57) unofficially* make up the rest of the interior list. *GM reported Z06 and ZR1 numbers together through 2011, making some of the early numbers a bit murky.


‘Vette fans’ favorite topic to argue about checks in next; it is wheel time! Chrome gets the overwhelming W in this category, taking an even bigger slice of the ZR1 pie than even Ebony interiors could claim. 3,377 sets of chromies were optioned on ZR1s throughout the years. Competition Gray is a distant runner-up at 810. Black Cup Wheels were only available in 2012 and 2013 (though they would make a comeback for C7 GS duty), and they notched 286 orders in that brief window, joined by another 76 orders for Silver Cup Wheels. The Base Painted Aluminum twenty-spokes only accounted for 226 sales during the ZR1’s life cycle, and the caboose was the Black wheel that replaced Comp Gray in 2013 to the tune of 65 sets.

Chevrolet unchained the order guide in 2011 and 2012, with several new custom-look options joining the fold. Starting in year three, the C6’s headlight bezels could be optioned in complementary colors. A total of 164 ZR1s got these headlight surrounds in black, while another 129 of them were spec’d in Cyber Gray, and just 20 units – in a 10-3-7 split – received silver mascara. Also launching in ’11 was the “deviated stitch” RPO that added a welcome splash of color to the interior. In the final three years of production, the most prevalent interior stitching shade was red with 317 takers. Blue stitching can be found in 120 total ZR1s, and Yellow thread is the rarest, only finding a home in 43 ZR1 interiors.

The ZR1 famously hit the scene with blue calipers on its Enzo-spec Carbon Ceramic brakes (while Z06s used red as their calling card and GSs wore silver). In 2012, the Corvette team opened the flood gates and allowed customers to choose between Red, Silver, Gray, or Yellow stoppers for their Corvette. While 325 of the final 886 ZR1s kept their signature brake hue, 561 others got factory customized. Red is the most common optional caliper paint, with 308 total orders (including the 206 mandatory-red Centennial Editions). The other colors are significantly rarer. Gray landed next on the list with 164 takers, followed by 53 Yellows, and just 36 Silvers.


Finally, and possibly most importantly, is the PDE “Ultimate Performance” Package. We love the PDE package around here because it harkens back to Zora’s go-fast specials of the ’50s and ’60s. PDE isn’t a very catchy name, but it should be mentioned in the pantheon of great Corvette options; RPOs that gave us some of the cars that were most feared by their competitors in the day and have gone on to become the most coveted by collectors today, cars like the ’63 “Tanker,” and the ’57 “Big Brake Airbox.” The PDE option lifted one of the best cars of the 21st century to even greater heights by mixing lightweight “cup” wheels, a new MagRide calibration, a more-aggressive full-length spoiler (that was always painted black, to beautiful effect), and ultra-sticky Pilot Sport Cup tires into an already potent recipe. This reload on Chevrolet’s part allowed the 2012 ZR1 to shave six ticks off of the 2009 car’s Nürburgring record time, and it guaranteed that their aging halo car could rain on the Gen-V Viper’s coming-out parade by setting a production car lap record at Laguna Seca during a head-to-head. Over its two years of eligibility, the PDE upgrades were installed on 375 total ZR1s, spread out between ’12 and ’13 184-191, respectively.

ZR1s have been gaining value on the open market, grab one while they are still semi-affordable, and if you do, or if you are already fortunate enough to have one of these masterpieces in your garage, let us know where it lands on the rarity scale provided above! We will be back soon with a C6 Z06 breakdown before too long; see you then!

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