In the United States, we have ways of showing appreciation and honor for the people and things that make up our American culture. For instance, every year in the early part of the summer, people come together en masse to lakes, beaches, parks-just about anywhere and everywhere-to celebrate Independence Day. Through partying with friends and family, bottle-rocket wars, and shooting off fireworks, we pay tribute to our country's founding fathers and to those who fell before us years ago fighting for our independence and, most importantly, our way of life. Jerry Downey of Oklahoma City goes beyond the call of duty when it comes to honoring those he admires; in fact he built a whole car around paying tribute to two kings of the Corvette world.
Jerry hasn't owned a Corvette in quite awhile; actually the last one he owned was a '72 LS5/four-speed coupe. He decided it was time to get back in the game and buy another Vette. The first Corvette that struck his fancy was a Z06. He heard only good things about the performance of the car and figured he couldn't go wrong. But upon further inspection, what he did learn was the fact that he wasn't too crazy about the FRC (fixed-roof coupe) design. Then out of the blue, he read an article on the original King of the Hill, the ZR-1. Jerry remembered thinking about buying one in 1995; he especially remembered the high price, and he certainly knew the elevated level of performance the King of the Hill was capable of.
So it was settled, and his search was on for a black on black ZR-1. As luck would have it, he ultimately found just the car he was looking for in his hometown. Mechanically the car was sound, but the previous owner had done everything wrong and nothing right when it came down to maintaining the appearance of this rare Vette. The reason for buying the car was so Jerry and his wife Karen could drive it around, and since there were already 65,000 miles on the odometer, preserving low miles was not an issue. However, getting her to look good again was.
Originally the plan called for just taking care of the basics. Fix the leaks, throw on new tires, recover the seats, and install a new carpet kit. But when Jerry looked under the hood and saw no distributor, no carburetor, and the words "4 cams and 32 valves," needless to say he was a little intimidated. He got involved in the ZR-1 community and starting learning more and more about his ride.
He attended his first Corvette meet in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a couple of months later. He met a few other ZR-1 owners there, and they began to throw ideas at him left and right. Then Clint Hooper, the founder and national director of the LT5 registry, showed up at the meet in his Callaway ZR-1. He gave Jerry the idea to add on a Lingenfelter Aerobody Kit and some trick wheels.