FIRST PRODUCTION CHEVROLET CORVETTE ZR-1 LT5 V8 ENGINE
The engine you see here occupies a special place in Corvette history, it’s the first production LT5 engine that was manufactured by Mercury Marine for the C4 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1.
The LT5 V8 engine was developed by Lotus in Britain for Chevrolet, both companies belonged to General Motors at the time, and the original plan was to use the new engine to turn the C4 Corvette into the fastest production car in the world.
This is engine unit number “0000” Indicating it is the first production engine for 1990 ZR1 Corvette. Hand-written notes on the outside of the crate and paperwork inside the crate indicate as such also.
The crate was disassembled for photos but the engine has not been removed from the crate since put in place by Mercury Marine.
The engine you see here was acquired by Automotion Classics from the estate of Rick Kirk, the late owner of RK Machine in Ripley, Oklahoma who did prototype work for Mercury Marine related to the development of the LT5 engine in conjunction with Lotus Group.
This is engine unit number “0000” – Indicating it is the first production engine for 1990 ZR1 Corvette.
Hand-written notes on the outside of the crate and paperwork inside the crate show the same and although the crate was disassembled for photos, the engine has not been removed since put in place by Mercury Marine all those years ago.
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brett@automotionclassics.com
[…] It’s strongly believed this engine is the very first production based C4 Corvette LT5 engine to ship from MerCruiser. Per the Corvette Action Center, Brett Shank of Automotion Classics acquired the engine from the the estate of Rick Kirk, the long time owner of RK Machine in Ripley, Oklahoma. RK did much of the early LT5 prototype work under contract to Mercury Marine and Lotus. All this could be yours for just $12,900. […]