Corvette History

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!

Karl Ludvigsen··
Last updated:
On special racing wheels the bespoke Goodyear 17-inch tires carried the Corvette ZL-1 on its successful travels to a 5,000-mile record-setting limit.

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.

Others had tried to surpass it. In 1968 automotive legend Mickey Thompson and drag racer Danny Ongais tackled Bonneville’s big circle with specially prepared Ford Mustang Mach 1s. They claimed a class record for 24 hours but fell short of Jenkins’ absolute standard by 3½ mph. The Mercedes-Benz C111/2 streamliner earned a world record for 5,000 miles in 1976 at Italy’s Nardo test track. Its average of 156.827 mph, however, didn’t threaten the Jenkins 24-hour mark.

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