5 Of The Fastest Chevy Cars Ever Made

When William Durant teamed up with Swiss race driver Louis Chevrolet in 1911 to form a new auto manufacturer, they already had success working together at Buick. They gave their new enterprise Chevrolet's name, and produced their first car, the Series C Classic Six, in 1913. That model topped out at 65 miles per hour, but the small-block V8 that Chevy introduced in 1955 produced 162 horsepower and established a new standard for automotive performance that led directly to the muscle car era of the 1960s and early 70s. Chevy's most enduring product is the Suburban SUV, which is now in its twelfth generation and is the longest continuously produced model in automotive history.

The earliest Suburbans plodded along at a pace not much faster than the Classic Six, but the 2024 model with a 6.2-liter V8 can hustle from 0-60 in 6.7 seconds. That's almost five seconds faster than the 1953 Corvette, the debut model that was powered by the somewhat advanced but undeniably wimpy Blue Flame inline six. Soon after the Corvette appeared on the scene, Chevy unveiled its small-block V8 engine, which grew from its initial size of 265 cubic inches to 427.8 cubic inches by the time the LS7 debuted in 2006. That particular engine has helped some of Chevrolet's more recent sports and muscle cars reach impressive speeds, and — perhaps surprisingly — they're not all Corvettes.

Since this list is necessarily heavy on Corvettes, we'll kick it off with the fastest iteration of Chevy's other famous performance model, the Camaro. That model debuted in 1967 as a showcase for Chevy's 350-inch V8, which would enjoy a long and fruitful run. The sixth-generation Camaro appeared for the 2016 model year, and came with a buyer-friendly array of engine choices. For the first time in 30 years, a four-cylinder served as the base Camaro engine. This version was a 2.0-liter turbocharged juggernaut that made 275 horsepower. The optional 3.6-liter V6 upped that output to 335 horses, and Camaro SS buyers got a 6.2-liter V8 that produced 455 horsepower.

For 2017, Chevy added a ZL1 option package that included a supercharger for the V8 that increased its output to a downright ridiculous 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. It was capable of going from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, covering a quarter mile in 11.5 seconds at 125 miles per hour, and topped out at 198 miles per hour. Motor Trend noted that those benchmarks made it "the quickest and fastest production Camaro model we have ever tested" as of May 2023.

Its hybrid drivetrain may offend Chevy purists that have premium gasoline running through their veins, but the 2024 Corvette E-Ray's performance capabilities should overwhelm any doubts about the electric motor that powers its front wheels and turns the E-Ray into an all-wheel drive monster. The rear wheels are spun by the same 495 horsepower, 6.2-liter V8 that goes in the Corvette Stingray, but the extra 160 horsepower from the electric motor on the front axle boosts total output to 655 horsepower. Car and Driver got to 60 miles per hour in an astonishing 2.5 seconds, which made it "the quickest Corvette to 60 mph that we've ever tested." 

They also ran it over the quarter mile in 10.6 seconds at 128 miles per hour, although they didn't put Chevy's claimed top speed of 183 miles per hour to a road test. Since the E-Ray's dramatic styling will turn plenty of heads around town, Chevy has also equipped it with a 1.1 kilowatt-hour battery pack that can keep it going silently for a few miles at up to 45 miles per hour in so-called "Stealth Mode."

Corvettes have gotten incrementally faster over the years, and fans of the bowtie's premier sports car with healthy spines will want to start quickly saving up for the 2025 Corvette ZR1. Chevy recently announced that it would be available beginning July 25, so time is running out to sock away the estimated $150,000-plus it will cost to drive one home. We've already offered up our wish list for the new ZR1, but we're still waiting for official performance numbers to make their way beyond the Chevrolet proving grounds.

The exhaust note that can be heard clearly in Chevy's brief ZR1 teaser video above seems to indicate that it will come with forced induction, a boost Car and Driver speculates will push output past the 800 horsepower mark and enable a 0-60 time of under 2.5 seconds. For now, those numbers will have to live only in our fantasies, but as soon as Chevy sends us one to test, we will get performance specifics to you. We expect it to compare favorably to the Corvette Z06's 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds and quarter-mile pace of 10.5 seconds at 131 miles per hour.

Going back a couple of Corvette generations takes us to a formidable contender for the fastest Chevy ever made. The sixth generation 'Vette premiered in 2005, and the now-familiar Z06 and ZR1 special editions appeared in 2006, and 2009, respectively. For 2009, the ZR1 was priced at $105,000 (a little over $150,000 today), but for 'Vette fans that was money well spent. 

The ZR1 had a supercharged LS9 6.2 liter V8 that put out 620 horsepower and 595 lb-ft of torque. That mighty engine could hurl the ZR1 from 0-60 in 3.4 seconds and down the quarter-mile drag strip in 11.5 seconds at 128 miles per hour. GM boasted that the C6 ZR1 was the first stock 'Vette that could top 200 miles per hour, and company engineer Jim Mero whipped one around the famed 12.9-mile Nurburgring nordschleife circuit in just 7:19.4. That was more than seven seconds quicker than the R35 Nissan GT-R and more than eight ticks of the stopwatch ahead of the Ferrari 812 Superfast.

To keep this list from becoming a chronicle of the beastliest Corvettes and Camaros, we're going to have to grade on a bit of a curve. Factoring in its curb weight and year of manufacture, the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 has earned a seat among the head of the class. The LS6 version of its 454 cubic inch V8 officially made 450 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque, although many believe that the official horsepower number was much lower than what the engine was capable of. It was powerful enough to move the 3,743 lb. sport coupe from 0-60 in 5.6 seconds and across a quarter mile in 14.4 seconds. 

Compared to a 2020s Corvette, that might seem sluggish, but the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 was three tenths of a second faster from 0-60 than that year's Corvette Sting Ray and slower by just a tenth of a second over a quarter mile. It bested the 1970 Mustang GT by a full second over the quarter mile and 1.2 seconds from 0-60. It also smoked that same year's Porsche 911T by more than two seconds from 0-60 and close to that margin over the quarter mile.