Introduction/Pickup Story

[edram454]

the snow shot was amazing. i cant imagine myself in that situation. your car ran flawlessly. beautiful car and a exciting trip. welcome to the club.


ed ramos #3028

[BlackWidow#2]

Welcome to ZR-1 ownership. That was a great story and a great beginning. Thanks for sharing. It brought back memories for me of my drive home from Knoxville TN in my 91 Red Z, during the Blizzard of '93!
George

[mike100]

Reminds me of a trip in 1993 or so going from Flagstaff to Phoenix in blizzard conditions in a '92 Z-28 camaro. Once you are on the road, you just gotta keep going. There were dozens of cars jammed into smowbanks and one track on I-17 pretty much in the middle of the road on top of the crown. Longest 45 miles ever.

Turns out GY Gatorbacks were a decent bad weather tire.

[ZR-1 Franz]

Hello from Switzerland,

Great story, great car. Congratulation. I have nearly the same combination
of C4 Corvettes. '90 red ZR-1 and '91 L98 Corvette, 6 speed, red interior.

Franz

[Paul Workman]

I agree, Franz!

Great story, and reminds me too of a harrowing trip in my 95 LT1 Vette - not across country; just 50 miles (80km) or so.

Went into a steakhouse for a pre-Christmas dinner for my employees; dry, but just barely at freezing temps. Came out afterward to a full-blow blizzard-like storm - which was apparently preceded with some freezing rain - just to set the stage for some real fun!

Once out of the city and out in the open, the wind was broadside at (I guess) 45 mph (72 kmph)- barbed wire doesn't block much wind, doanchaknow.... Roads were like walking on an ice rink in (dress) street shoes!

Only 5 miles (8km) from home, I was suddenly hit by a big gust that slammed me from the side and the car began skidding on the glare ice and drifting snow to the sharp edge of the country road: and of course there had to be a steeply banked, deep ditch filled with water/ice! (BFG KD tires really SUCK in wet or snow/ice (especially in cold conditions).

Gritting my teeth and engaging the clutch to remove all the engine torque off the rear tires, I got enough traction to get control - that and the gust let up just enough for me to breathe again!

I'm guessing too that BlackSheepz and his lovely "broken doll", may also have encountered some salt and or traction "sand" laid down by the road crews too? Hey, Racinfan83, imagine THAT on your show-car Z!

Originally Posted by ZR-1 Franz

Hello from Switzerland,

Great story, great car. Congratulation. I have nearly the same combination
of C4 Corvettes. '90 red ZR-1 and '91 L98 Corvette, 6 speed, red interior.

Franz

[Bob Eyres]

It was fun reading your story. And it brought back that feeling of dread when we were in our "new" ZR-1, headed thousands of miles home, when a snowstorm hits.

My 21 year old son and I flew out to L.A. in November 1994 to pick up my 3K mile 91' ZR-1. The car didn't need a lot of checking out, it was virtually new.
We drove to Vegas after doing the paperwork at Corvette Mike's, and the next morning we foolishly decided to see the Grand Canyon on our way back to Florida.
That's when the snow hit.

I've got a heavy right foot, but in this blizzard we were at a crawl. The highway dept. trucks were roaring past us, spewing out cinders and hay or whatever, bouncing off the undercarriage causing a nasty racket. I think the fates were trying to tell us that this wasn't going to be a show car, or trailer queen. This was a DRIVER.

The rest of the 2,700 miles were a great experience, once we headed south to Phoenix and I-10, then east to Florida and home. Great times in some little bar in the mountains of New Mexico watching our Miami Dolphins come from behind beating the hated N.Y. Jets with an outrageous, trick, "Fake Spike" play by Dan Marino, (yes, that was a long time ago).

The straight, flat, roads of west Texas were just too inviting for the long legged ZR-1 to go the speed limit. My son was driving near Ozona when he pushed it up to 155. I thought, "My old L98 could do that, this car is the King", so I got in and on a smooth stretch let it sing, up to 173mph. That's still the fastest I've ever driven the car.

We stopped in New Orleans for a great meal at K Paul's, and brought it back to Florida thoroughly "broken in".
To me, the "King of the Hill" doesn't deserve to come home on the back of an 18 wheeler, but under it's own power. Just like you and your wife did, rain, snow, and all. You'll never forget that trip.
Mine has served me well in the last twenty plus years, and 60K miles.
I think I'll keep it, I hope you do as well.

[Hog]

Welcome BlackSheepZ (sorry I didn't catch your first name).

Great writeup and some nice pics. I think the last picture that I saw that had I'm sure you'll have some deeply engrained memories of that trip. It looks like you have an enthusiastic driving partner in the navigator seat. That always makes trips that much more enjoyable.


With the snow, it would have been quite the experience to walk into a tire store and ask "Do the Hancook Winter Pikes come in a 315-35-17 size?"

We just got our first snow up here a few days ago. It doesn't look like it's going to hang around for long.

It makes me happy to see ZR-1 owners actually enjoying these "Kings of the Hill". These are cars and are made to drive, drive often, and drive hard.

Enjoy your car, enjoy the ZR-1 Net Registry Forums, and post often.

Paul Schermerhorn

[BlackSheepz]

Happy New Year!

Thanks for the Warm welcome everybody, and sorry for the delay in response! Holidays, family, the in laws, the outlaws, you know how it goes.

A ton of wonderful stories, I love them all. Couple of responses:

Hog-Name is Marc. Guess I didn't post that earlier. BlackSheepz was the username I selected before buying a car. I was dead set on a black car to go against the white one I already had (named the sheepz). Just goes to show you never know when you'll fall in love amirite?

Bob Eyres- What a wonderful rendition of a trip. You are correct, these cars are made to be driven under their own power and I'm glad my trip went as flawlessly as yours. You are right, it is definitely a trip to remember, and now that fate has stepped in, this car is going to get out and about!

Paul Workman- I once got caught in an epic rainfall in my 92. Thank goodness for Traction Control! That car has Continental DWS Extremes on it (the All weather Variety) 275-35-18 and 295-35-18 so between the Traction Control and the tires, it was all good.

The Z? The Z unfortunately has Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's on it. I feel your pain with the BFG KD tires!

ScottZ95ZR1- You are in Pendleton? I am in Irvington, we should grab a bite to eat or a beer one of these days!

Dynomite- All of your posts and technical information ect is incredible. Saw that the road trip was added into Solutions and thank you for that. I've already read quite a few of your documentation on Plenum removal and fixing a leaking oil cooler line. You are a ZR-1 Hero.

Thanks again everybody, welcome to the new year and I look forward to visiting the forum and contributing as often as I can! Also Hoping to meet some of you at the gathering in May! Thanks again and Happy New Year!

[BlackSheepz]

Originally Posted by ZR-1 Franz

Hello from Switzerland,

Great story, great car. Congratulation. I have nearly the same combination
of C4 Corvettes. '90 red ZR-1 and '91 L98 Corvette, 6 speed, red interior.

Franz

I love your garage, and beautiful cars to match!

[JThomas]

Congrats on the purchase and the safe drive home! Driving is half the experience and you now have a story to tell. Thanks for sharing the experience.