Corvette History 1984-1996 Corvettes (C5)1990 Chevrolet Corvette
1990 Chevrolet Corvette
Contributed by Mike Antonick, Editor "Corvette Black Book"
This year's big news was introduction of RPO ZR1, available only with coupes. It included special rear body panels and an LT5 engine designed jointly by Lotus and Chevrolet. The engine had an aluminum block and cylinder heads, four overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and was rated at 375-hp These LT5 engines were built by Mercury Marine at its Stillwater, Oklahoma factory, but ZR-1s were assembled on-line at the Bowling Green Corvette plant.
Although a separate model, the ZR-1 was technically an option with an added cost of $27,016. Despite the cost, an early buying frenzy erupted not unlike that of 1978's Pace Car replica. Some ZR-1s changed hands for $100,000 before, as in 1978, the bubble burst.
All 1990 Corvettes, ZR-1s included, had redesigned interiors (except seats) with a driver-side airbag, and a "hybrid" instrument display with analog tachometer and secondary gauges, and a digital speedometer.
Corvette built 23 specially-optioned cars for the SCCA World Challenge series. Callaway sold 58 twin turbos. Total Corvette production was 23,646, including 3,049 ZR-1 models, and 7,630 convertibles.
Overall, Bright Red exteriors were most popular with 6,956 sold. Competition Yellow's 278 quantity was the lowest. At 474, Quasar Blue Metallic was also comparatively rare.
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