Farm-Find C4 Corvette ZR-1 Saved from British Field

Here at Hagerty, we love barn-finds of all types, but we have a soft spot for ones that feature an exciting, historic car popping up in a place that makes us ask, “how’d that get there?”

British car YouTube channel The Late Brake Show posted a video recently that ticked those boxes for us. In the episode, which you can watch in full below, host Jonny Smith takes us to an undisclosed location in eastern England—just a few kilometers from where he lives, in fact—to attempt a rescue on a C4 Corvette. Now, the idea of an overseas C4 is compelling enough, but this one is no humdrum C4; this is the world-beating ZR-1.

And “rescue” is indeed the term we’d pick to describe what this one needs. You can see the moss growing in the window trim and the roof panels, and you can tell that it’s endured years of hard, rainy English weather.

Under that long, forward-opening clamshell sits this car’s tie to the British commonwealth: The fabled 32-valve, quad-cam, LT5 V-8. Smith spends the opening part of the show walking through the history of this engine, and just why it was so special in the C4 Corvette. You likely know the history, but in case you need a quick refresh: The engine was a blank-sheet design, massively complex relative to the single-cam, pushrod V-8s that had been in Corvettes up to this point. Lotus Engineering, owned by GM at this time, helped with the engine’s design, and Mercury Marine assembled the all-aluminum mill.

The resulting ZR-1 was the fastest Corvette yet, and a hallmark moment for a nameplate that has, throughout history, made quite a name for itself by punching above its weight. However, less than 7000 ZR-1s were built, owing to several factors working against it in-period.

Smith spends some time talking to Will, the owner of the car. Will shares his story of how he came to love American cars through time spent working harvests in North America, and notes that this ZR-1 is the fourth Corvette that he’s owned among other American cars, too. Will shares the all-too-common story about how the Corvette used to see regular use, but over time, and for practical reasons, it hit the road less and less. Then, as life got more complicated and expensive, he parked it entirely.

The car is finally seeing the light of day because Will is selling it to new owners, Llewellyn and Chris, who we meet part of the way through the video. The two are optimistic about the prospect of getting It running, despite the weathered state of the bodywork and the moss in the windows.

Smith goes through the car with the owners, and their appreciation for what this ZR-1 represented is obvious. The typical barn-find precautions are taken, from disconnecting fuel lines to prevent pushing nasty fuel further into the system to rocking the car to check seized brakes. They’ve brought a bore scope along to check the cylinders, and the news seems positive.

Throughout the rest of the video, you can sense the enthusiasm around every aspect of this car, from the state of various mechanical systems to the contraband they find inside the interior. (Check out that jacket!) Despite being unable to get the car running through clutch-dump starts or other measures, the pair remain optimistic about the potential here. Chris and Llewlleyn are planning to document the restoration process on their own YouTube channel, which should be fun to follow along with.

Seeing these sorts of cars saved from slow, unceremonious demises is always pleasing, but watching it happen in a faraway land, so clearly showing the global appeal of the Corvette nameplate, is even better. Best of luck to Chris and Llewellyn; we can’t wait to see the finished product.

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