[JoeC]

***This is from memory without my notes so may not be 100%****
The ZL1 and the CanAm BB Chevy have as much resemblance to the C5R engine as the Toyota race engine that won LeMans. The LS1/LS6 C5R engine is a complete new generation of engines - nothing like a BB Chevy. If you must compare it to an old engine program, the C5R engine is more of a decedent of the 1963 Grand Sport Corvette program that got canceled. The GS Corvette had a 377 aluminum small block race engine designed from the 1963 327 RPO Corvette engine. Zora and his boys had high hopes to win LeMans, Daytona, and Sebring but Chevy gave the ax to the GS. The C5R won the race that many Corvettes fans wanted to win for many years so the C5R already has its own place in history.
The CanAm engines were designed by Chevy engineering to help Jim Hall Chaparrals win CanAm races and to show off Chevy engineering expertise. I have seen 4 different CanAm blocks and there are probably more. They came out about 1966 as BB Chevys cast in alu, then progressed to special castings with Siamese cyl/cast iron liners, then "Reynolds" blocks with no liners. The stock block in aluminum was not strong enough for CanAm but by 1968 the CanAm block engine was working good and Chevy sold the block as an HD service item later passed on to Don Yenko. Other teams such as McLaren were very successful with this killer BB Chevy engine beating the best in the world.
The ZL1 engine was released as RPO for Corvettes as an alu block L88 engine. This made it legal for SCCA competition who did not require car production minimums. It was not a special order race block like the C5R. Fred Gibb did COPO 9560 to get the RPO ZL1 Corvette engine in 50 Camaros so he (and Chevy) can have some fun in Super Stock drag racing. The "ZL1" Camaro was made for one reason which was to make it a legal Super Stock class drag car. Bill Grumpy Jenkins put a 430 cu in CanAm engine in a 68 Camaro and won the first ever Pro Stock race in 1970. Beating the Hemi with the BB Chevy was a really big deal back then to Chevy fans although the Sox & Martin Hemi won the 70 Pro Stock title. Getting back to the subject of this post, I like the 2002 Camaros but I don't see where the 2002 ZL1 Camaro got its right to use the ZL1 name and I hope the 2002 Motion Camaro does not disrespect the old Motion Camaros. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]