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GM offers Corvette owners chance to help make engines

General Motors offers buyers of the new Corvette ZR1 and Corvette Z06 a chance to assemble their new car's engine at the Corvette Engine Build Experience.

Suzanne Ashe
Suzanne Ashe has been covering technology, gadgets, video games, and cars for several years. In addition to writing features and reviews for magazines and Web sites, she has contributed to daily newspapers.
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Suzanne Ashe
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General Motors

Anyone who orders a new Corvette Z06 or a Corvette ZR1 has the option to help a master technician build the engine from the block up. The one-day experience will cost an additional $5,800 to hand-assemble at GM's Performance Build Center in Wixom, Mich. All engines built will be covered by Chevrolet's five-year/100,000-mile power-train warranty. However, customers cannot add additional parts to up the horsepower and have it covered under the warranty.

Corvette engine tech Rich McBride at GMs Performance Build Center. General Motors

For an additional $490, customers can take delivery of their Corvettes at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. Museum schedulers notify the customers when their cars will be completed and help them pick their delivery date. On arrival, customers receive a tour of the GM Bowling Green Assembly Plant and the museum. Then the owners can pick up their new Corvettes from the museum showroom, where each owner's car is on display. The delivery process includes a personalized demonstration of the Corvette's features, broadcast around the world via live Webcam 24 hours a day.

"There are very few car enthusiasts in the world who can say their car is capable of 205 miles an hour," said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet Marketing. "There are even fewer who can say they helped build their own engine, watched their car be built from the ground up, and took delivery across the street from the factory."

Every customer who orders a ZR1 receives a complimentary attendance at one of two official Corvette ZR1 driving schools: Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nev., or Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler, Ariz.

Each school offers a two-day course designed to teach new owners how to fully enjoy the performance of the ZR1 in a safe, closed-course environment. Heel/toe shifting, threshold braking, and cornering are only some of the dynamic driving skills ZR1 owners will learn at the schools.

The Corvette ZR1 driving schools are also open to the public, with prices starting at $2,995.