The 2009 C6 ZR1 was NOT the first supercharged Corvette
April 7, 1954 – McCulloch Motors begins selling supercharger kits for Corvettes!
Before Chevrolet unleashed the 638-horsepower C6 2009 ZR1, the Corvette community wasn’t itching for a supercharged Corvette. The 505-horsepower C6 Z06 was enough of a beast for most Corvette buyers.
Oh, there were rumors about a “supercharged” Corvette (the Blue Devil), but the Corvette team looks into all kinds of things. Also, the Corvette world is rife with rumors. But when the ZR1 arrived, it became an instant legend. However, it turns out that “supercharging” has been with the Corvette almost from the beginning!
The Roots Blower Company was established in 1859. “Supercharging” was first patented in 1860 as an air pump for blast furnaces by Philander and Francis Marion Roots. Years later, superchargers went from blast furnace devices to automotive and airplane engine uses. The 1922 Mercedes was the first mass-produced supercharged car.
In 1931, the Roots Blower Company was bought out, and it became the Roots-Connersville Blower Company. The company started producing centrifugal superchargers. Supercharger kits were available for the most popular make and model engines. All through the formative hot rod years, superchargers were not uncommon. In 1937, Robert Paxton McCulloch started producing supercharger kits.
Eventually, Paxton supercharger kits were available for most popular cars. Kits were produced for the 1957 Ford Thunderbird, small-block Chevy engines, Studebaker cars, and later Shelby Mustangs, 1965-1972 Mustangs, and many others. On April 7, 1954, McCulloch Motors launched their centrifugal supercharger kit for the 1953 Corvette’s Blue Flame Six. Unfortunately, it didn’t get much attention.
1953 Corvette #024 was treated to one of the Paxton supercharger kits and got impressive performance improvements. Acceleration from 0-60 went from 12-seconds to 9.0-seconds, and rear-wheel horsepower went from 87 to 117-horsepower – a 34-percent increase!
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This supercharger kit concept was pitched to General Motors, but they passed. Why? Right from the beginning of the Corvette, Chevrolet insiders knew that the new Corvette was designed to eventually accept the new, in-the-works, small-block Chevy V8 engine. So, GM felt there was no need to make a business deal for superchargers.
Eleven years later, in the spring of 1965, GM’s new 396 Mark IV 396 big-block engine became available. Making outrageous amounts of horsepower became an easy task. The 396 big-block morphed into the 427 in 1966 and then the 454 in 1970. In 1967, the L88 racing version of the big-block was released, followed by the 430 Can-Am big-block that totally dominated the Can Am series for five years.
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The all-aluminum 427 ZL-1 engine was released in 1969, and in 1973, Jim Butcher’s supercharged, nitromethane-drinking 427 ZL-1 Top Fuel dragster set the NHRA ET National Record.
Chevrolet jumped the supercharger shark in 2009 with the intercooled, Roots-type, supercharged C6 ZR1 and again with the 2015 supercharged Z06, then the 2019 ZR1, the 2023 Z06, and now the 2025 ZR1.
No one ever imagined that 71 years after the Paxton Supercharged 1953 Corvette was shown, “supercharged” Corvettes would be world-class, high-performance sports cars. – Scott
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