Rippie returned from California with an idea in his head. What if he could get all the corporations involved with the LT5 project to allow him to do a factory blessed enhanced version of the LT5? The DRZ-500 engine resulted from the cooperative effort of Rippie, Cline and other MerCruiser engineers, Graham Behan and Tim Holland of Lotus Engineering in England, and Chevrolet Engineering.

Customers sent their vehicles to Rippie’s facility in Minnesota where he carefully removed the engines. Several cars were being done at the same time so one of Rippie’s employees took a paint pen out of his toolbox and marked all the removed components with the customer’s initials. Little did he know the value this would add to these special cars in their future. The removed engines were then crated and sent to MerCruiser’s Stillwater facility where the engines were originally built.

Mercruiser had been experimenting with special machining of various engine components for racers Tommy Morrison and Kim Baker and they came up with a finished product for Rippie’s new project. Cylinder heads, injector housings, intake plenum and portions of the throttle body were given a complete port and polishing, then treated to a durable wrinkle black powder coated paint. The engines were sent back to Rippie’s shop in Minneapolis, MN., where he reassembled them, performed custom camshaft installation, and finally, ECM calibration.

Like most tuners, Rippie couldn’t just do the same thing over and over so he started out with a mild version which brought the earlier engines up to the ’93-’95 405hp spec, then a 450hp, and finally, the 50 State Legal 475hp version and one fire breathing 525hp version. Along with the engine packages, Rippie offered a variety of other enhancements to accompany the newfound power. Coil over Bilstein shocks, roll bars, headers and huge Willwood brakes found themselves on several of the cars.

During the transition of these special cars, Rippie and fellow Corvette tuner Jim Van Dorn met and became quite close friends. Van Dorn’s car, the last of the eight, was being finished in late August ’93 when Van Dorn came up with an idea. Rippie had a race in Texas coming up the weekend after the Desert Corvette Association’s giant Millard Fillmore event on Labor Day. Could Rippie bring the car to the event where Van Dorn could drive it on the drag strip as well as the autocross? “Sure, why not!” replied Rippie.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Why only 8? The special packages were started in 1993, which was the same year that MerCruiser went out of production on the LT5, and they only had time to do the eight jobs. Where did the black paint come from? In 1991 when MerCruiser built their first race LT5 engines for Tommy Morrison's assault on Daytona, Tommy wanted his engines to look special so he requested MerCruiser to paint them in special black paint. To honor the racing heritage, it was decided the special DRZ packages should also be black.  (Gary Cline)

Rippie arrived much to the crowd’s delight with the Dieline race transporter with not only VanDorn’s ZR-1, but with both Doug’s Dieline LT1 race cars as well. When Van Dorn saw the LT5 engine for the first time he mentioned to Rippie that the black paint combined  with the red lettering and plug wires reminded him of    with the red lettering and plug wires reminded him of a Black spider. The name “Black Widow” was coined forever.

Van Dorn became more and more involved with Rippie’s exploits and soon found that a camera or two was essential to stay up with the fast moving and unpredictable Doug Rippie. At the Museum’s Grand Opening (Sep 1994), Van Dorn arranged to have all eight Black Widows come to Bowling Green where they were photographed for the first and only time all together. In addition to group photos, Van Dorn went one step farther and shot photos of each owner and their car separately, along with a close-up of the VIN. These are the only photos of the group known to exist.

In the pages to follow is a list of each car, its owner, and any other information we were able to find out about its current status. If you have any additional info, please email us.

Doug Rippie and Gary Cline stand proudly behind all eight of the Black Widows.

Harrington’s 1991 #1 (right end) thru Van Dorn’s 1991 #8 (left end).

Dr Michael Jackson, Mark Shultz, Jim Van Dorn.

Black Widow #1

Owner: David Harrington (AR)

1991 White/Blue

VIN 1G1YZ23J2M5800843

475hp

Equipment: Side Skirt Aero Kit, 4.09 Gear, Ron Davis Radiator, Bilstein 1g Coil-Overs, Borla Exhaust

Black Widow #2

1991 Black/Black

VIN 1G1YZ23J9M5800757

525+hp

Equipment: Bilstein Coil-Overs, DyMags, Roll Bar, Lightweight Flywheel & CenterForce Clutch, Short Stop Brakes,  headers, Flowmaster exhaust, 5 pt harnesses, 409s, and larger front sway bar and poly bushings.

Additional Info: This car was actually the first delivered car. When revved, it shot gas out of the exhaust and was the most wicked sounding ZR-1 for the time. We were out in the motel parking lot late one night and tempted Steve to light the engine. He did, threw a couple of 7K revs and shut it down. A guy came out of his room (107) screaming he was going to call the cops. Steve left for a few minutes and came back. When we asked him where he went he said he had to go leave a 4am wakeup call for room 107…

It was also the first one delivered because Steve wanted to enter the BluBlocker 100 Open Road Race in Nevada heal May 1993. He averaged 159.4 mph, with a claimed 200 mph capability, justified a 7th place finish. Featured in Car and Driver (Feb 94), Corvette Quarterly (Summer of 94), Heart of the Beast, and the ZR-1 Registry newsletters.

Black Widow #3

Owner: Glenn Greider (NV)

1990 Black/Black

VIN 1G1YZ23JXL5800085

460hp plus 130hp with NOS

Equipment: Bilstein Coil-Overs, NOS, Brake Upgrade, Sway Bar and suspension upgrades (poly bushings and Heim joints), 4.09 gear, Radiator, Centerforce, lowered 1 1/2" front and 2 1/2" rear.

Interesting notes: This car had the hood signed by the entire LT5 Gang at the Thunder at Stillwater event in 1993. This is an early 1990 equipped with steel half shafts. Notes: This was actually the first car delivered to Rippie for the BW package. The engine was removed from the bottom as a test to see if it was easier than lifting from above.

With over 70k miles on the odometer this is the only Widow that started out as a first year model 1990 ZR-1. This car was entered in the Silver State Classic open road race (1994) and One Lap of America (1995).

Black Widow #4

Owner: John Whitney

1991 Black/Black

VIN 1G1YZ23J4M5802030

500hp

Equipment: Roll Bar, Coil Overs, Brembo Brakes, Lightened body (300lbs), 4.09 Gear, DyMag Wheels, 3in Custom Exhaust, Air Induction.

Black Widow #5

Owner: Jerry Crews (FL) Current Owner: Frank Kafoure

VIN 1G1YZ23J4P5800153

475hp

This vehicle was chosen to represent the Black Widows in the Heart of the Beast. This vehicle was equipped with Coil-Over shocks and 5-spoke polished aluminum alloy wheels.

Notes: This vehicle has been previously identified as #4 however, all vehicles were lined up by their original ID number in the NCM lineup by their owners. Jerry Crews agrees the vehicle is #5 however it may have come out of Rippie’s earlier than Whitney’s. This was the only new car which became a Black Widow. It was purchased at Village Chevrolet in MN. This is the vehicle used for emissions certification (50 State).

It has been featured in many publications including Motor Trend, Heart of the Beast, and Corvette Milestones. It has also be featured at the National Corvette Museum, in a group photo, together with all the other cars produced in the Black Widow limited production series.

Black Widow #6

Owner: Dr Michael Jackson (IL) Current Owner: Eric Brown

1992 Red/Black

VIN 1G1YZ23J4N5800318

465hp

Equipment: 1g Coil Over Shocks, 4.09 Gear, 94/95 ZR-1 5-spoke wheels.

Notes: Only '92 produced. Car currently has closed to 16,000 miles. Interior upgraded audio sound system and remotely operated CD 12-disc changer.

Black Widow #7

Owner: Mark Shultz (SD)

1993 Aqua/Gray

VIN 1G1YZ23J7P5800101

475hp

Equipment: Coil Over Shocks,

Black Widow #8

Owner: Jim Van Dorn (CA)

1991 White/Gray

VIN 1G1YZ23J4M5801119

475hp (plus 650hp LeMans engine)