Introducing The Fireblade Concept, A Corvette ZR1 In Meaner Clothing

Fireblade Concept – The New 2009 Corvette ZR1

It’s hard not to like the New Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. Any time you take a standard Corvette, give it more power, lighter weight, bigger brakes and a better suspension, our supercar-loving hearts start thumping right out of our chest.

It’s the Bat-Corvette, its the Corvette Reventon! NO! Its called The Fireblade Design Concept, which is basically a re-skinning of the already potentially iconic Corvette ZR1 by South African designer Idries Noah.

Now, currently, this is nothing more than a 3-D dream car, but it’s still making at least one of us feel that pants-tightening excitement we haven’t felt since the first time we spotted the ZR1 in an embargoed press event around the time of the last Detroit Auto Show.

Follow the link for some high quality pictures of the Fireblade Design Concept at seriouswheels.

The idea for the FireBlade was to “reflect raw power” and to “be a brute, a car that has muscle car qualities”, according to designer Noah. Inspired on such mythical vehicles like the Shelby Daytona and Corvette Stingray, the FireBlade would have a promising career if it ever had the chance to see the production lines.

Spied: 2009 Corvette ZR1 Sets Nürburgring On Fire

The 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is almost set to be unleashed in the world. But while we wait, it’s just been caught doing hot laps on the Nürburgring. As the most powerful Corvette ever built, we expect it to run impressive lap times – And the ZR1 does not disappoint! It was captured on video running consecutive laps in the 7:40 range! This unofficial time puts it well into the race for the fastest production car ever around the Nordschleife.

Not only that, but the conditions of the “test” weren’t ideal, with a cold and wet track and lowly engineers at the helm. ZR1 Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter was quoted saying the ZR1 will beat any production car’s track record anywhere in the world, and this news goes pretty far to back that up. Head on over to Edmunds Inside Line to see the video and hear the beast in its element for the first time.

Introduced earlier this year at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will be a limited-production version of the standard Corvette. It features a supercharged 6.2-liter LS9 V8 rated at a jaw dropping 620 hp and 595 pound-feet of torque. A 6 speed transmission sends power to the enormously large 335/35R20 tires. Extensive use of carbon fiber gives the ZR1 its unique look and helps it weigh only a few hundred pounds more than a standard Corvette Z06.

Looks like this Chevy they might have some serious competition with the Nissan GT-R already runing laps of 7:38 at the Nurburgring. But we’re guessing the ZR1 can shave off a few more seconds without much trouble. The only question now will be how much quicker than 7:38 can it go? We’ll keep you posted.

check out the video here

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