VIDEO: Jay Leno takes delivery of Corvette ZR1
Click above to watch video after the jump
Jay Leno just picked up his new Corvette and posted a little video of its reception on Jay Leno's Garage. As you might expect based on some of his other vehicles, this isn't just any Corvette. No, it's a ZR1. Jay gives us a quick walk-around of the vehicle and points out the unique touches make this the most powerful Corvette ever. He even offers up some trivia, letting us in on the little known fact that the clearcoat used on the ZR1 costs $60,000/gallon. After the tour, Jay takes his newest addition out for a spin and shows off some of the steak behind the sizzle. Our favorite line? Jay tells us that repairs are relatively simple for the Corvette in his own unique way. Check out the vid after the jump to see what we're talking about. Thanks to everyone who sent in a tip!
Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1
[Source: Jay Leno's Garage]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Amien 4:11PM (12/09/2008)
Some people have all the luck.
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Domestic 6.0 10:39PM (12/09/2008)
THE GREATEST CAR EVER MADE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tristan 4:30PM (12/09/2008)
eat your hearts out boys.
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jsb 4:14PM (12/09/2008)
Don't you mean, "some people have all the money"?
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Amien 4:26PM (12/09/2008)
Actually what i mean is,
WANT!!!11
Rob 4:28PM (12/09/2008)
I call BS on the $60,000 a gallon for clearcoat - it takes at least a quarter to a half gallon of clear to cover the car and there is no way that they added 15-30k just on the clear coat.
Jay is full of it!
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Tristan 4:33PM (12/09/2008)
its true 60 g's omg in need a tissue
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=124018
jon 4:56PM (12/09/2008)
i see what you are getting at, but i can explain how they do it without the price being 15-30 K per car.
first off- the clear coat isnt exactly a normal paint, its specially designed, and you need much less of a coat of it to cover it (im more than confident the clear coat is put on by robots with extreme precision) i wouldnt be surprised if i was told the clear coat was only millimeters in thickness.
second- the clear coat only goes over the parts of the car with exposed carbon fiber (the roof) so that already is much less of the car
Clinton 5:06PM (12/09/2008)
The clearcoat he talks about is only for the carbon fiber pieces; not the whole car.
why not the LS2LS7? 5:36PM (12/09/2008)
It's only for the unpainted CF, i.e. the roof.
Also, there's no way it's even a single millimeter thick, let alone multiple millimeters.
Maybe you are thinking mils (thousands of an inch)? A trash bag will be a couple mils thick, this could be almost that thick.
Torrent 5:37PM (12/09/2008)
The fibers are visible on the roof and hood inner, and to prevent UV light from degrading them, the clearcoat additive costing over $60,000/gallon is added at three-percent concentration in the thin clear-coat layer ($2,000/ Gallon).
ronnie schreiber 5:59PM (12/09/2008)
I second the call of BS. I worked in a DuPont paint lab and the color shifting Chromalusion paints are about as expensive as auto paint gets and those are about $3K/gal. I also kind of doubt that clear coats are anywhere near $2K/gal, certainly not at the OEM pricing level. Pigmented paint is significantly more expensive than clear.
As far as film thickness, 2-4 mils is typical for auto clear coat. It's been a few years, but I didn't think that UV screeners, which go into all topcoats (mostly to prevent primer and electrodip degradation if the UV makes it through the topcoats) are that expensive. Perhaps because of how sensitive carbon fiber is to UV, they need special screeners, or most likely, screeners that maintain the clearcoat's transparency despite high levels of screener.
Modern auto paints are pretty amazing in terms of durability and gloss. Polyurethane paints, particularly, like DuPont's Imron and competitors' products, are virtually indestructible under normal conditions. You can spray a test panel with poly-u paint and bend the panel back and forth until it breaks from metal fatigue and the paint film will still be intact. Because of patents and proprietary technology, each brand may be more or less resistant to particular chemicals, but for the most part you can't go wrong painting your car with poly-u, that is, if you can afford it.
GenoMalice 6:22PM (12/09/2008)
No, Autoblog has it wrong. It's only on the roof that, the expensive paint is used on. Imagine them painting the whole car in that paint and getting a chip from highway driving on the hood? That's gonna cost at least a couple thousand to touch up!
konatown 7:16PM (12/09/2008)
The paint clear coat isn't $60,000/Gallon, the clear coat, sealant rather, on the carbon fiber is $60,000/Gal.
montoym 8:10PM (12/09/2008)
He misspoke and/or is misinformed.
It's not the clearcoat on that car itself that costs that much, it's the clearcoat on the carbon fiber pieces. They used a special mixture in order to keep the CF from fading and cracking. That's what costs $60K/gal. I'm sure far less is used of it than would be used for the whole car. It was all covered in great detail during the storm of info that came out when the car was officially revealed.
andrew 9:09PM (12/09/2008)
The clearcoat just goes on the carbon fiber roof not the whole car.
jzzr83 9:28PM (12/09/2008)
The clear coat only covers the carbon fiber I believe. So that clear coat is only on the roof. Not the whole car.
SilverAero 9:37PM (12/09/2008)
The special clear coat is only for the carbon fiber roof, and $60,000.00 is probably retail not GM's wholesale price.
Jaime Haber 12:20AM (12/10/2008)
It's only for the carbon-fiber exterior bits.
Caz 11:25PM (12/10/2008)
believe he said the special clearcoat is for the carbon fiber roof, not the entire car