2019 Corvette ZR1 Coming to Mecum Harrisburg is the Ultimate Dad Spec

Last week, we hit our friends at Car and Driver with some good-natured ribbing after they somehow awarded a slower, less-practical, less-comfortable, and more expensive car, the W, in a comparison test based on an “impartial” points-based scoring system. While we are still scratching our collective head over that one, we have to give credit where credit is due. C&D is still one of if not THE most prominent name in our industry, and they deserve credit for coining a new car category that we didn’t know we needed: The Dad Spec.

From Mr. Dyer’s excellent original “DS” write-up: “Not all performance cars need to be edgy and outrageous. That’s where Dad Spec comes in.” Dad spec’d cars should be “tastefully optioned and respectably low-key.” They have all of “the performance goods, but [aren’t] obnoxious about it.” He continues explaining that not all cars can go DS – like a Civic Type R – but “any luxury car with a performance version that’s rational rather than all-out (M550i instead of M5; Audi S instead of RS) is [automatically] Dad Spec and even a Mustang can be Dad Specced… Does it have the Ford Safe and Smart package, you ask? You’re damn right it does. [The DS] is one Mustang you’re not going to see wrapped around a light pole in an empty parking lot. Not because dads don’t rip doughnuts, but because they’re good at them.” So, that’s the quintessence of Dad Spec: “you take a vehicle with stacked performance and a possibly juvenile rep and option it toward luxury and understatement.”

Well, next week, as Mecum’s traveling tent extravaganza touches down in Pennsylvania, you will have a crack at owning the king of all Dad Specs! Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you 2019 ZR1 #2,549, or as it’s known by Dana’s crew, LOT S217. Of course, there’s no place for the ZTK track package and its ostentatious “Batwing” on a true Dad Spec. The model’s signature Sebring Orange paint is also a no-no! How about the classy combo of Long Beach Red over Kalahari? Now we’re talking! Top it off with chromies and the smooth-shifting 8-speed automatic, and Daddy’s officially home!

Interestingly, its high VIN puts this one in the last 13% of front-engine swan songs ever minted. And what would a good Dad Spec be without a dirty joke to remind everyone that even though this Corvette would look right at home in front of the country club, it’s still packing the rowdiest Small Block ever concocted!? You’re right; it wouldn’t be any good at all, so here it goes – Guess how many C7 ZR1 Coupes were produced in Long Beach Red? Give up yet? It’s Sixty-Nine – Nice! The low wing also puts it in rare company as one of only 30% of all LT5 ZR1s that can actually hit the car’s official – and still record-holding – top speed of 212.54 MPH! With just 4,572 miles on the clock, we are looking forward to seeing where this unique gem hammers!

But wait, there’s more! Juvenile ruffians like your author needn’t worry; the Harrisburg auction has you covered, too! LOT S145.1 is a 7,688-mile coupe with an immature blacked-out Batmobile motif to go with its previously mentioned pointy-eared big wing. Oh yeah, and this one has three pedals! Nowhere near as rare, VIN 1675 is one of 453 Black Targas, and, with that ZTK package, it finds itself in the 70% that the DS car wasn’t a part of. BUT its 7-speed does put it in its own 30% portion of the one-year production cycle that saw a vast majority of buyers opt for the auto. So, pick your poison, Corvette Nation. Is it the Dad Spec for you, or would you rather be a peacock in all black? When it comes to 755-horse monsters, you can’t go wrong either way!

Mecum’s Harrisburg auction runs July 26-29 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. Click here for event info and to see the vehicles consigned to the sale.

Source:
Mecum Auction

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