I have come across the definitive video clip of what “shifting like a boss” looks like and it’s definitely GM Engineer John Heinricy in a ZR-1.
They called it “King of the Hill” for a reason and to familiarize ZR-1 owners with how badass the fastest Corvette of the time was, several short informational videos were made, including this one showing GM engineer John Heinricy manhandling the ZR-1 like you do. Check out exactly where John Heinricy “Shifts like a boss” in the video clip below.
The specs of the 1992 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 might not knock your socks off today but for the early ’90’s the Chevrolet’s LT5 V8 was top-notch for the best America had to offer. Keep in mind that the United States was still getting over its malaise era of large yet anemic engines stuffed in less than inspiring body designs rehashed over several models.
Although the ZR-1 shared most of its interior with Corvette trims half its price, the real gem of the ZR-1 was under the hood, a cast aluminum block LT5 which put out a monster 375 HP and 370 lb-ft. The 93-95 ZR-1’s got a power bump to 405 HP and 385 lb-ft.
As the video illustrates, it wasn’t so much the horsepower as it was that massive torque push you got off the line where the LT5 really shined. With all that power routed through a six-speed transmission, there were more than enough gears to really exploit the full powerband of this 90’s supercar.
In search of just how reliable these LT5’s are today, I couldn’t help but stumble over a forum where there are many happy owners of ZR-1’s beating on them day in and day out. a few with odometers over 100,000 miles.
This naturally led me to find out how much these Kings of the hill are selling today and it looks like you can scoop one up for around $20,000.
For car enthusiasts, this is great news if you want a hammer of a daily driver at a bargain of a price. It might not have the rad-ness of a ’92 Acura NSX that you’ll have to spend three times as much for with their NA V6, but you’ll have all that power and will slip under the radar at your local Cars and Coffee.
You could shift like a boss back in the early 90’s and you can still shift like a boss today thanks to the used car market treating these Kings quite nicely.
Not bad!
