1971 Corvette ZR2

In 1971 Chevrolet Corvette introduced to the racing world a new street legal racing machine. This racer christened the ZR2. “ZR” represented Zora’s Racer  being named after Zora Duntov who was nicknamed “The Father of the Corvette”. Production was limited to 1971. There were only 12 Corvette ZR2s ever built.

 

This car shown here is THE LAST ZR2 car ever built by Chevrolet.

 

Introduced during the 1971 model year, the first ZR2 was given no preproduction hype, no road tests in exotic locations, no "leaked" photographs and no engineering details. "Nothing".  The car was on its own and only because Chevrolet was not in racing.

 

The GM back door was wide open and out of that back door came the ZR2. Based on the L88 chassis, the big-block-powered racer was something of an enigma. How could you sell such a car if no one knew about it? However, with racers being what they were (and are), the information slowly leaked out and 12 fortunate owners tested the very first ZR2's. These 12 cars were created, named and championed after the innovative Zora Duntov; Corvette’s leading engineer and designer.

 

ZR2's were equipped with all the heavy-duty racing equipment that had been developed for the L88 Corvettes of 1967-68-69. The ZR2 package could not be ordered with any creature comforts, in other words, air conditioning, power steering or radio.

American car lovers know that ZR2 was once reserved for the ultimate Corvette performer, and it was only offered for a single year.  The ZR2 was one of the best-handling big-block Corvettes ever, and it was no slouch on the dragstrip, either.