First thing; the moniker ZR1 has never been used by GM before. They have used ZR-1 before, but not ZR1. It seems non trivial but GM made a very big issue of this in their press release. ZR-1 moniker is used across the Chevrolet product line to signify higher performance equivalent of their standard siblings.
Of course, most of you know that the official launch of this vehicle will be at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 19th. People looking to buy one will find out how good they know their local Chevrolet dealer on January 20th, the official order placement date. I have a friend; we were business partners in a venture, who owns a Chevy dealership. He already has 34 people on his “unofficial” list waiting to buy one. I seriously doubt that he will get more than 10 orders filled in a year. Bob Lutz has confirmed that Chevrolet will make well below 2000 units in a year. There are 14 Chevrolet dealers in Phoenix Metro area alone. I don’t know the exact number but there got to be more than 2000 Chevy dealers in the US. Considering these numbers, I highly doubt it that most dealers will be able to fulfill more than 10 orders in a year.
As some of you may know, this vehicle was green lighted by Bob Lutz in direct response to 2008 Dodge Viper, which is completely new and has considerably more horsepower than Z06. Chevrolet is poised to keep the “Sports car of America” title with the ZR1 launch. I am sure Chrysler will not stand still, but it is fun to watch a productive rivalry where people like us end up reaping the rewards by driving super car performance vehicles for fraction of the cost.
