I first heard about the 2009 “Blue Devil” which later became the ZR1 in 2007. I called the Corvette salesman that I had used to buy my prior 4 Vettes and told him that I wanted to be put on the list for when they came out in 2009. He told me that he was sorry, but that I was already way too far down the list. He sold a lot of Corvettes, but he only figured he’d be able to get a couple when they came out. There were already 8 people on his waiting list. Disappointed, I said thanks and hung up.
2 years later in June of 2009, I got a call from him. He said that he was at home that night when he got a call from his manager. His manager told him that if he could order one that night, then there was one available for delivery in August. He called the people on his waiting list, but that was when the economy was in the tank and either they couldn’t be reached or weren’t in a position to buy the new car. I jumped on it.
I had already taken delivery of 2 new Corvettes at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY and wasn’t planning on doing it again. That said, I figured that if there was ever a time to go and pick it up from there, this was the time. I wasn’t sorry. It was a great experience as usual. It turned out that my car was the 104th built.
I drove the car back to Chicago, and it was a great trip. The car was all I had hoped for. After keeping it in the Chicago area for a few weeks, I drove it to AZ. The first day, I drove 1,000 miles in about 19 hours and got all the way to Tucumcari, NM. I was pleased that when I got out of the car after a long day, I wasn’t stiff or sore at all. It was a very nice riding car.
The next day, I was going through NM on a very straight, very smooth road (I tend to stay off the freeways and enjoy the 2-lane roads on trips like this). I could see miles ahead, and there was no traffic, buildings or anything. The fastest I had ever gone before was 168 MPH and I decided to try and top that. I took it to 175, and it felt so good that I kept going. I took the car up to 201 MPH, which is the fastest I’ve ever driven a car. It handled perfectly and was very stable and not scary at all. This is a great car.
