HARD CORVETTE

THE CHEVROLET CORVETTE HAS BEEN A CONSTANT THROUGHOUT THIS MAGAZINE EXISTENCE. WE BEGIN OUR CELEBRATION WITH THE MOST EXTREME VERSION YET.

- JARED GALL

IF YOU’RE THE GUARDIAN-ANGEL TYPE, you'll want to make sure yours blocks out time in their schedule before you settle into the new Corvette ZR1. You also might want to issue them earplugs because there will be decidedly blasphemous outbursts when the mighty LT7 engine conjures its full output. It would be unprofessional to admit that the ZR1’s specs are terrifying. But 1064 horsepower and 828 pound-feet of torque are certainly intimidating.

Twenty years ago, the Bugatti Veyron inaugurated the four-digit club and charged more than a million bucks for admission. Generating the Bug’s 1001 horsepower took 16 cylinders, 8.0 liters, and four turbos; putting it to the ground required all-wheel drive and custom-made tires that cost $25,000 a set. The ZR1 has a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8 and routes its torque solely to the rear axle. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2Rs on the car we tested aren’t cheap, but the replacement cost basically amounts to the sales tax on the Veyron’s rubber. Here is a comprehensive list of more powerful regular-production cars that are rear-wheel drive:

The list of quicker rear-drive cars is also nonexistent. The ZR1 blitzes to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds, to 100 mph in 4.5, and through the quarter-mile in 9.5 at 149 mph. Within this magazine’s history was an era in which numbers like these were the exclusive domain of slingshot dragsters with the life expectancy of a hand grenade—and a similar kill radius. But here they are, generated by a regular-production Chevrolet covered by a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty.