Full story: T1308015_Poor Animal Was Left Alone But Not Forgotten

The 1,064-HP 2026 Chevy Corvette ZR1: A 335-Mile, 10-Hour Odyssey Through Los Angeles Christian Seabaugh, Writer Ryan Lugo, Illustration Brandon Lim, Photographer February 13, 2026 For a certain period during my teenage years, I harbored an unhealthy obsession with unofficial, unsanctioned records. It’s a regrettable phase I blame entirely on late-night viewings of Jackass’ Gumball 3000 Rally, specifically the episode where they barreled from London to St. Petersburg in a battered Jaguar. That ignited a fascination that only intensified when I discovered the Cannonball Run and its modern successors. The original Cannonball “rally,” conceived in the 1970s by automotive legend Brock Yates as a protest against the restrictive 55-mph national speed limit, represented the zenith of automotive challenges. To my impressionable 2006 self, it was pure legend. Even more tantalizing was the news that a long-standing record had just been shattered: an eccentric enthusiast had piloted an E39 BMW M5 from New York City to Los Angeles in a blistering 31 hours and 4 minutes. Closer to home for this Brooklyn-raised teenager, the same driver had honed his skills by “lapping” Manhattan in a mere 27 minutes—a feat that seemed utterly incomprehensible. In my younger, more foolish days, my friends and I fantasized about conquering that record. By the time we possessed the financial means for such an endeavor, the prudent voice of self-preservation had long since silenced those ambitions. Yet, the allure of unofficial records persisted. What was the fastest time around Washington, D.C.’s Beltway? Berlin’s Stadtring? Moscow’s ring road? This line of thinking inevitably turned my attention to my adopted hometown: Los Angeles. The Challenge Los Angeles, the undisputed capital of American car culture, is a notoriously difficult place to define, let alone circumnavigate. The name “Los Angeles” dominates local and national discourse, yet it functions as little more than the largest of 88 distinct cities within Los Angeles County. This sprawling megalopolis, roughly the size of Connecticut, is constrained by the Pacific Ocean along its heavily populated western and southern borders. A formidable mountain range bisects its waist, giving way to high deserts in the north. For locals, the definition of the “real” L.A. is as subjective as New Yorkers’ definition of “upstate.” (For the record, the correct answer is everything north of The Bronx.) What many perceive as L.A. encompasses beachside bungalows, the glitz of Hollywood, and maddeningly congested freeways. But it also includes winding canyon roads, arrow-straight desert highways, and iconic boulevards. Attempting to link its premier driving roads into a single, continuous lap presented an intoxicating yet enigmatic challenge. However, unlike a circuit of D.C. or Manhattan, an L.A. County lap would be as much a test of endurance as it would be of speed. Enter the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the perfect steed for this ambitious undertaking. Building upon the foundation of the MotorTrend-award-winning Corvette Z06—a car itself engineered for GT3.R endurance racing—the new ZR1 represents the absolute pinnacle of gasoline-powered American performance. Its headline feature resides behind the driver: a high-revving, flat-plane-crank 5.5-liter V-8, a souped-up derivative of the Z06’s powerplant. Twin turbochargers force-feed the engine so much air that they generate a staggering 37 pounds of boost, expelling it through the exhaust pipes. The result is a colossal 1,064 horsepower and 828 lb-ft of torque, delivered to steamroller-wide Michelins via an eight-speed automatic transaxle. Opting for the ZTK package elevates the ZR1 with stiffer springs, refined MagneRide dampers, oversized carbon-ceramic brakes, and aggressive aerodynamic dive planes and spoilers. These aero elements can generate up to 1,200 pounds of downforce, though achieving this requires a top speed of 233 mph—a figure bordering on theoretical fantasy. Nevertheless, this level of race-car technology trickling down to the street makes the ZR1 an undeniable choice for the grand L.A. challenge. Illustration: Ryan Lugo The Route Our meticulously planned Lap of Los Angeles route traces the perimeter of L.A. County. It commences at the Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, the southernmost point of mainland L.A. From there, it veers eastward through Long Beach before ascending the San Gabriel Mountains via the legendary Angeles Crest Highway. The journey then descends into Antelope Valley, traversing the high desert to the county’s northern boundary. Finally, the route loops southwestward, utilizing a network of canyon roads before an inevitable stretch on highways and surface streets. The grand finale involves conquering the iconic and sinuously twisting Mulholland Highway through the Santa Monica Mountains, ultimately terminating along the Malibu coast. The concluding leg retraces the coastline back toward the starting point, looping around the Palos Verdes Peninsula and returning to Point Fermin. To amplify the difficulty for both myself and the Corvette—and to streamline logistics for our photography team—we elected to undertake this marathon drive during daylight hours. The journey would commence at the break of dawn during a late winter sunrise and conclude before sunset. After all, what is an L.A. drive without a touch of traffic? The morning began under the cloak of a thick, soupy fog that defied the ZR1’s sophisticated aerodynamics. As I maneuvered the car toward the starting line at the Victorian-era Point Fermin Lighthouse, its beam was rendered virtually invisible. The fog was so dense I could discern the car’s aero elements only by the way they interacted with the carbon lip of the front trunk’s radiator outlet, the vapor swirling around its broad haunches. The complete lack of forward visibility made navigating San Pedro’s narrow, hilly streets a precarious affair, and judging the transition from pre-dawn darkness to the ambient light of the harbor proved equally challenging. We’re Off and Running By 6:24 a.m., the sun managed to pierce through the gloom, and I deemed it an acceptable starting point. With a surge of anxiety, I pointed the ZR1 northward, intent on executing a right turn onto the iconic Vincent Thomas Bridge and crossing Terminal Island into Long Beach. From there, I planned to cut through the city to bypass the Orange County border and merge onto the 605 freeway. Disaster struck almost immediately. An early-morning accident had shuttered the bridge, forcing the ZR1 and the early-morning tide of port-bound tractor-trailers onto the 110 freeway, completely derailing my intended route. To compound matters, my phone’s navigation app, which I had hoped would provide a viable alternative, promptly crashed. This left me to rely on my notoriously unreliable sense of direction as I attempted to extricate myself from the freeway and rejoin the course. Aware that I needed to return to Terminal Island to retrieve my planned route, I exited the freeway into the throes of Wilmington’s morning rush hour. I navigated the labyrinthine surface streets, eventually making my way down Pacific Coast Highway to Henry Ford Avenue. This thoroughfare, alongside others like Firestone, Nash, and Studebaker, serves as a poignant relic of L.A.’s golden era as an automotive manufacturing hub. I passed by the very grounds where Model A’s once rolled off assembly lines and a bridge still bearing the Ford family name. Eventually, I found myself back on Terminal Island. Here, I committed my second significant navigational error. With the dense fog intensifying near the water, I turned left instead of bearing right, sending me down a two-lane road utterly ill-suited for a high-performance supercar. The road was too narrow and choked with heavy truck traffic to permit a safe U-turn, especially in the limited visibility. Exasperated, I pulled off onto a paved railroad siding at the dead end, rebooted my sputtering navigation app, and unleashed the ZR1’s full potential, hoping to recoup the lost time over the course of the long day ahead. Alas, my efforts were in vain, and I soon found myself mired in the very freeway congestion I had sought to avoid with my early start. The slow progress and the soft morning light afforded me an opportunity to take stock of my surroundings. While modern Corvette interiors have often been underwhelming, the 2026 redesign, coupled with the full carbon fiber construction of our test car, imbues the ZR1 with a genuinely exotic feel. The persistent traffic also served as a stark reminder of how far automotive technology has progressed. Not long ago, a mid-engine car with even half of the ZR1’s horsepower would have been a miserable experience in such conditions. This Corvette, however, remains remarkably composed. In its default Tour mode, the throttle response is linear, the automatic transmission shifts with silken smoothness, and the ride quality is surprisingly compliant. Forward visibility is even commendable, thanks to generously sized side mirrors and a camera-based display integrated into the rearview mirror. Two hours after departing San Pedro, I made my first pit stop. What was intended to be a quick refuel before ascending the magnificent Angeles Crest Highway was complicated by an assembly of eager enthusiasts at the gas station, eager to admire the ZR1. However, with a full tank of premium fuel and the knowledge of the 300-plus turns awaiting me on the 60-mile mountain pass, I was confident I could make up