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2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope

It has been a while since my last day-long outing in the RX-7. That happened some time ago, and several other Japanese sportscar owners tagged along for the drive. One of them was driving a 300+ horsepower Nissan S14 but has since abandoned that car in favor of something with a tad more torque. He forgot about the boosted lifestyle, but he seems to be quite happy with his C5 Corvette Z06. We'll come back to him in a future story.
2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope 23 photos
Photo: Bring a Trailer/ User fcort7
2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope
The Chevrolet Corvette is one of the most iconic sports cars of all time. It has been around since the early '50s, which means it has been around for seven decades. That's quite a bit longer than the Mustang or the Camaro. Seven different generations of this nameplate have come and gone during that time, and you can now go to your nearest Chevrolet dealership and buy an eighth-generation model.

The measure of intelligence is the ability to change

And for the first time in the history of Corvettes, the car features a rear mid-engine configuration. But we won't be talking about the C8 right now. Instead, we'd like to have a look at its most recent predecessor.

The C7 was introduced almost a decade ago and marked the beginning of a new era for Corvette fans around the globe. Over the course of half a decade, Chevrolet built just under 190,000 'Vettes. There are four different variants: the Stingray, the Grand Sport, the Z06, and the ZR1. The Stingray was available in dealerships from the very first day until the last one of the seventh generation.

So more than 120,000 units were delivered to their owners in that interval. That makes up for 63.5% of all C7 Corvette sales. At the other end of the spectrum, you'll find the ZR1, which was only built for the 2019 model year. There are only 2,441 coupe versions and 512 convertibles in existence, which adds up to 1.6% of all C7 Corvettes ever made.

2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope
Photo: Bring a Trailer/ User FinestVehiclesTraded
Whereas the entry-level Stingray used a 6.2-liter V8 with 455 hp (461 PS) and 460 lb-ft (620 Nm) of torque, the ZR1 took performance to a whole new level. The all-new 6.2-liter V8 also had a 2.6-liter Eaton Supercharger, and that was enough for a maximum output of 755 hp (765 PS) and 715 lb-ft (969 Nm) of torque.

America is all about speed

Official tests have revealed a top speed of 212 mph (341 kph), and the car reportedly lapped the Nürburgring in a little over 7 minutes. With a starting price of $121,995 (destination charge included), it could go past the $150,000 mark if you wanted all the factory goodies installed.

In recent years, we've seen a lot of people buying exclusive cars as a means to make a profit by selling them later on. It has happened with the Bronco, and it has happened with the C8 Corvette as well.

But despite the dealer mark-ups and all the gold rush going on, some people will pay top dollar to get the car they want. So we were curious to see how the market for the 2019 ZR1 evolved since the launch of the most powerful Corvette of all time. For that, we dug through BringATrailer's auction history, and here is what we found.

2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope
Photo: Bring a Trailer/ User RetroOrville
The first ZR1 was listed on the auction website back in 2020 and it was a 5-mile (8 km) coupe with an eight-speed automatic gearbox! The reserve was not met, even though the highest bid went up to $143,000. And the second car to go under the hammer suffered the same fate, with the highest bid at $126,000.

Life's too short to drive a boring car

All that changed in February of 2021, as a Michigan-based ZR1 convertible sold for $138,000. In a rather strange turn of events, the sticker price for this 500-mile (804 km) model was slightly higher at $144,975. Perhaps there is more to that story than is visible to the outside world.

Scrolling through all the listings from 2021, you'll come across 18 different auctions. We're talking about 13 listings for the ZR1 coupe and five for the convertible. Just two out of those 18 vehicles did not find new homes. And the average price for the ones that did was $158,062.

Believe it or not, the most expensive one was a Black coupe with just 898 miles (1,445 km) on it. It went for $190,000, which is $15,000 more than the most expensive convertible sold that year. For some people, it seems that the ZR1 ownership experience might have been quite fruitful.

2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope
Photo: Bring a Trailer/ User FinestVehiclesTraded
And you can tell who bought the car just for its resale value, as five of them had been driven for less than 1,000 miles (1,609 km). Three of them had less than 100 miles (161 km) on their odometers. One particular Utah resident had driven his car for almost 20,000 miles (32,186 km), and we're happy to see that someone enjoyed the ZR1 for a change.

Quality is the best type of advertising

Less than 30% of the original ZR1 customers opted for the seven-speed manual gearbox, and that is visible by looking at the auction history as well. The ratio of manual to automatic gearboxes seen in 2021 listings was 3:15.

Switching over to 2022, we can already see a few changes in the market. Even though we're still two months away from 2023, we've already seen 19 ZR1s being listed on the online auction service. Convertibles are scarce, as you'd expect with just four cars, versus 15 units of the coupe variant. The most expensive one sold this year went for $215,000, which marks a 13.15% increase compared to last year.

The average price has also gone up by 7.76% to $170,330. But if you don't mind buying a car with more miles on it, the news isn't as bad. With 21K miles (33,796 km) onboard, the most affordable ZR1 in 2022 sold for $123,000. That's about 3.9% cheaper than what we saw in 2021. And chances are we'll see more affordable ones going up for sale within the next few years. Just keep a close eye on the market if you're dead serious about getting one.

2019 Corvette ZR1 Prices Are Going Up, But There's Still Hope
Photo: Bring a Trailer/ User HardingMotorsports
As for colors, it won't be difficult to find a Black car (538 units built in total) or a Sebring Orange one (811 units). The Long Beach Red and Admiral Blue ZR1 are the rarest around, with 97 versus 51 vehicles delivered with these paint schemes. Now, if prices for these cars would move up at similar rates for the next few years, we should see ZR1 going for more than $300,000 by 2025.

Even so, that's still a lot cheaper than what Rick Hendrick paid for the first unit to leave the factory floor. During a Barret-Jackson auction in Arizona, he set the winning bid at $925,000. It might take a decade or two before that happens again.

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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
Dragos Chitulescu profile photo

The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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