Ileen's Pride & Joy

Ileen Bunce - Eagle, ID

1991 ZR-1

Purchased as 2nd owners in 1994.

Ileen's Black ZR-1 Corvette is one of 489 Black ZR-1's built in 1991. The basic Corvette list price was $32,455 with an additional $31,683 charge for the ZR-1 Special Performance Package. Including the optional roof panel and destination charges the total list price new was $65,583. Ileen was fortunate to locate this pristine Vette in Louisville in 1994 when it had less than 10,000 miles on it. The "Beast" has only been on a trailer a few times. Once from the factory to Louisville,  when we moved from Bardstown, KY to Boise, ID. and again during a return trip to the Museum in 1999.  Ileen is a Lifetime Member, Founding Member, National Corvette Museum  Ambassador and belongs to Valley Corvettes of Boise.

Since purchasing our ZR-1 we have become Independent Distributors for DRI WASH 'n GUARD ®. We stand behind and recommend them as the finest automotive detailing products available for your Corvette, whether museum quality or a daily driver.

The heart of the option package is the 5.7L, dual overhead cam, 32 valve "LT-5" V8 developing 375 horsepower @ 6000 rpm. The engine was developed with the help of Lotus Engineering in England and produced for Corvette by the MerCruiser division of Mercury Marine.

We were fortunate to experiment and discover that DRI WASH 'n GUARD®  OxyGone ® paint restorer will safely clean and restore the finish of the unique LT-5 engine. Use of OxyGone is the only safe method known (short of a complete tear-down and repainting) that will remove stains and water spots from the LT-5. Numerous ZR-Net and ZR-1 Registry Members have used OxyGone ® to restore their LT-5's paint condition.

Unfortunately, sometime in 1993 General Motors made the decision to kill the ZR-1 program. The last 1500 engines produced were spread across production years 1993 - 1995 and on April 28th,1995 the last ZR-1 came off the production line in Bowling Green, KY.

During 5 years of production 6939 ZR-1 Corvettes were built. The ZR-1 will most certainly remain the "King of the Hill" for the foreseeable future. For more information on this fabulous automobile be sure to visit the The ZR-1 Home Page.

A fine written history of the ZR-1 can be found in the "Heart of The Beast" by Anthony Young, Automobile Quarterly Publications, Copyright 1994. Copies may be purchased over the phone from the National Corvette Museum by calling 1-800-53VETTE.

You can see several examples of the Historic ZR-1 Corvette, including the last ZR-1 produced, at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. If your not already a member consider joining today.