The MotorWeek Retro Review series is like a gift to gearheads. It rewinds to a time when some of our favorite sports and muscle cars were brand new to drivers. Now, we know just about everything there is to know about these cars, but can you imagine the wonderment of your favorite car when it was brand new (given you didn’t buy it brand new).

This particular review intrigued us because our readers freaked out over our report of a LT5 overhead cam Corvette a few weeks ago, but this isn’t the first time it’s happened. As matter of fact, the intended model we suspect the engine to go into, the ZR1, is an ode to the model that did it first — you guessed it, a LT5 powered ZR1!

Back in 1990, the ZR1 Corvette was the baddest mother around, king of the hill, top dog! It had radical body work (for the time) to make it wide enough to house the hefty P3I5/35ZR-17 Goodyear Eagle Gatorbacks, which were made just for this car. It had convex rather than concave/square versus round taillights, a polyurethane end cap, and small ZR-1 badging — making it a very muscular (and heavy) car. The LT5 engine featured four camshafts, driven by a roller chain, and a very elaborate lubrication system.

Check out the first impressions during one of the first test drives of this highly collectible Corvette.