Growing up in the ’90s and early 2000s with a dad who held subscriptions to all of the “big three” US automotive magazines made the first week the best one of each month! In those days, I loved all of the new car reveals, conjecture about future models, and first instrumented tests, but all of that amounted to practice or maybe some undercard work for the main event on game day: group comparison tests. Getting to see the latest and greatest machines battle for supremacy on road, track, and strip was what kept me coming back for more, and every so often, Car and Driver, Road&Track, and Motor Trend would one-up the traditional manufacture-backed competition by injecting steroids into the mix with vaunted tuner challenges. As all baseball fans of the same era have to admit, a juiced-up Clemens v. McGwire showdown was appointment television, unlike anything that the diamond has seen since the MLB cracked down on PEDs.
For this future car writer, the undisputed king of the tuners at this time was the late John Lingenfelter, who picked up the crown fashioned by Reeves Callaway in the 1980s and ran with it by crafting ever-nastier Corvette builds. Whenever a tuner throwdown graced the pages that were delivered to 2420 Indiana Place, Lingenfelter’s creations were sure to captivate my young mind. His Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) firm was behind the C5 that hit 60 in 1.97 seconds on the way to a 9.24 second quarter at 150.27 mph – a car so fast that the only thing MT could fairly run it against was the F/A-18 Hornet of the Blue Angels! And it was LPE that crafted a C4 so burly that it had to be highlighted when C&D recreated its noted 0-150-0 test 25 years later.
The first-place pace achieved by that monster Lingenfelter C4 on obsolete rubber in 1998 was so great that only two (the 911 Turbo S and the C8 Z06) of the dozen state-of-the-art performance cars tested in 2023 could best it while leaving some serious contenders – like the Mustang Dark Horse, the 668-horse Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, and even the 911 GT3 RS – in its wake (here’s the original story, it’s worth revisiting!).
One of the neatest things about LPE is that John’s knowledge lives on in the walls of his Texas shop, and if you have a donor ‘Vette, his heirs will still gladly build it to magazine spec for you. Or, you could just cut out the middleman, as one such car is up for auction on Bring a Trailer this week! The C4 in question was born special. Not only was it one of just 448 King of the Hill ZR-1s assembled in 1993, but this first-year home of the Gen-II 405-horse LT5 was also optioned with the coveted Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Package, making it one of just 245 ZR-1s ever fitted with a special edition RPO. Out of the 448 ultimate 1993 Corvettes built, it wears VIN 260 and covered the majority of its 24,000 miles in stock condition before its current fourth owner decided to have LPE turn things up a few notches in 2016.
Now, its legendary 4 Cam 32 Valve V8 displaces 415 cubic inches, just like the renowned beast from the original 0-150-0 test. So, how do an additional 65 cubes get a four-generation old platform to go and stop with the urgency of a present-day supercar without so much as a single PSI of forced induction? I’m glad you asked! More than $32,000 later, the famously stout LT5 now makes an incredible 610 free-breathing horsepower (or maybe 620, depending on which you trust more: the BaT listing or the old C&D article) in beefed-up LPE guise. Couple that with the C4’s 3,465 lb. curb weight, and you’re looking at a power-to-weight ratio in the vicinity of 5.6, which only four factory Corvettes in history have outdone. Specifically, the C7 ZR1’s horses are each burdened with just 4.71 lbs., the C6 ZR1 hauled 5.21 lbs. with each supercharged horse, and the C7 and C8 Z06s are both around 5.4 pounds. You’ll notice that the C8 and its high-revving LT6 is the only naturally aspirated ‘Vette on this list. After that, the lithe C6 Z06 gets closest at 6.23 lbs. per pony while a showroom fresh C8 Stingray has to lug around 7.37 pounds with each of its 495 HP, and at 5.94, even the muscly electrified E-Ray’s horses are saddled with an extra third of a pound compared to the LPE ZR-1.
It’s safe to say that the maroon on maroon 415 ci LPE C4 isn’t messing around, but it’s shaping up to be a screaming deal, especially compared to the other hard-hitting ‘Vettes mentioned above. As of writing, with just over three days of bidding left, it has a highwater mark of just $22,000. Before the gavel falls on July 11th, that number – which wouldn’t even cover the engine modifications – is likely to balloon significantly, but these Corvette Bloggers will be watching intently because this one has a shot at the best performance bargain of the year throne – perhaps leaving its fifth owner plenty of leftover cash for the unimaginably cool matching vintage satin jacket on eBay right now – I can’t think of a better combination to celebrate the peak of our civilization!
Source:
bringatrailer.com
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