2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8

Check out the easter egg in Chevrolet’s new 1,064bhp Corvette ZR1

GM immortalises the 47-year-long career of Tadge Juechter - a man who engineered Corvettes for three decades

General Motors has revealed that its 1,064bhp Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 features an easter egg. Apart from an easter egg being a delicious egg-shaped chocolatey treat, the expression can mean hidden features in video games and, er, cars... apparently.

Yep, to celebrate the esteemed 47-year-long career of Tadge Juechter - 31 of which he's spent with Team Corvette specifically - GM has etched Juechter’s face into the glass of the rear windscreen of the new ZR1. Definitely a more sincere nod than a chinzty gold watch, eh?

Juechter's success has come through hard graft, working his way up the corporate ladder. He first cut his teeth on development of the C5 Corvette, under Dave Hill. That was the ‘Vette known for changing things up in a big way, as it was based on CERV test cars. It arrived with a stiffer chassis, less than three quarters of the parts of the previous generation Corvette and was the first ‘Vette to have a boot since 1962.

Before Hill retired in 2006, Juechter helped to develop the C6. Then he took over as chief in 2006 and led the team responsible for the C7, a glow-in-the-dark variant of which would go on to win Le Mans in 2017, and 2019's mid-engined C8 Corvette Stingray.

 
The new Corvette ZR1 has just hit 233mph with GM’s president at the wheel

In *mostly* production spec too, we should add

Still under the impression that Corvettes aren’t ‘real’ supercars? You’ll be pleased to know the new C8-generation ZR1 has just topped 233mph during a top-speed run at the High Speed Oval in Papenberg, Germany. Two hundred and thirty-three miles per hour.

That’s an extra large slice of humble pie for anyone who still believes the Corvette hasn’t transitioned into supercar territory these days. In fact, that number pushes it beyond the likes of the Gordon Murray T.50 and the Pagani Utopia.

Taking the wheel was General Motors president Mark Reuss, and in the Instagram reel posted for evidence (here), he was even joined by Jeff Gordon. Because who doesn’t need a bit of emotional support from a four-time NASCAR champ at a time like this?

As for the car itself, the ZR1 packs Chevy’s most powerful engine ever: a 1,064bhp/828lb ft flat-plane V8 dubbed the ‘LT7’. It’s big, it’s angry and it revs to 7,000rpm. Despite adopting the same basic architecture as its LT6 forebear, it has upgraded ports, a larger combustion chamber and better valve timing, among other changes.

 
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