who built the zr-1 corvette engine

Hi misterharley! The engine was designed and built by Lotus after GM took them over in 1985. Here's a page with a nice overview of the history of the engine. Enjoy :http://www.eurovettes.com/zr1_home.htm

Hello misterharley-- The ZR-1 engine (LT5) was built by Mercury Marine in Stillwater, Oklahoma and was then shipped to Bowling Green for installation in the 1990 Chevrolet Corvette. Good luck from Bovan.

The engine was designed and engineered by Lotus and GM Powertrain. At the time, GM owned Lotus. The engine was actually built, at Mercury Marine (Mercruiser) in Stillwater, Oklahoma - again owned by GM at the time. Mercury Marine was chosen to build the engine because they had extensive experience with building aluminum engines, which at the time, GM did not. More info on the 1990 - 1995 ZR-1: http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/specs/c4/zr1/