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When the Corvette ZR1 program was initiated, the car was officially labeled “King of the Road,” or simply “KOH.” The “ZR1” moniker came later for the production version of the car.
The roots of the King of the Hill Corvette began with the introduction of the fourth-generation Corvette released for the 1984 model year. The next link in the chain of events leading to the ZR1 took place in 1986, when GM purchased Group Lotus, an engineering consulting and performance car manufacturing company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Soon afterwards, representatives from Chevrolet’s Corvette section began discussions with their counterparts at Lotus’ engineering facility in Hethel, Norfolk, regarding the development of a special Corvette engineered to become the fastest production car in the world. Lotus agreed to the proposal, and in collaboration with GM’s engineers, a new V-8 was crafted with the same bore centers as the Corvette’s standard 350 L98, but with extensive modifications including an aluminum block, four overhead cams, 32 valves and a special air management system that would shut off eight of the 16 intake runners and fuel injectors when at a part-throttle state. This engine, labeled as the LT5, was connected to a ZF six-speed manual transmission. Both the LT5 and the ZF transmission entered production for the 1990 model year. The LT5 installed in the feature prototype was the 43rd such engine built.
read more: https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1988-chevrolet-corvette-zr1-prototype
