Chevrolet

From Zero to ZR-1: The 24-Hour Corvette ZR-1 Record That Stunned the World

The greatest names in motordom had tried and failed. A 50-year-old speed record had shrugged off their best efforts. Could a standard American sports car break a record for the fastest-ever completion of a 24-hour drive? You bet it could!

Avatar photoKarl Ludvigsen

Note: This article is reproduced with permission from our sister site CorvSport.com

Every great initiative has to start somewhere. This one began in the spring of 1989 in Southern California when PR consultant Peter Mills was chatting with Stuart “Stu” Hayner, who had been racing sports cars professionally since 1987. Out at Bonneville, said Mills, in July 1940 Ab Jenkins set a world land-speed record for 24 hours at 160 miles per hour. And the record still stood, added Mills, the only one of it kind still standing.

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Karl Ludvigsen
Karl E. Ludvigsen is a journalist, author, and historian of the automotive industry and motorsports. Karl Ludvigsen is the author of the definitive history of Porsche. His Porsche history, Excellence was Expected, is considered to be a model of the researching and writing of the history of an auto company. Ludvigsen is an honorary member of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and the Corvair Society of America. He is also a member of the council of the Historic Automobile Group.
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