Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis, offspring of one of Germany’s old and wealthy noble families and an avid race car driver, took delivery recently of a new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 in Bonstetten, Switzerland. The car was a “must have” for the prince but despite his racing pedigree there have been no plans announced to race the world-beating supercar.

This pedigree includes the current European Lamborghini Cup title, vice champion of the German ADAC GT Masters 2008 and a stint in the FIA GT European Championship behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. He also currently races with Reiter Engineering, using the German firm’s GT3-class Lamborghini Gallardo race car.

The new Corvette ZR1’s 638hp (476kW) and 604lb-ft (820Nm) of torque should easily match the performance of most of the race cars Prince Albert has previously driven, but this all that speed can be taken off the track. How much speed? For the benchmark 0-100km/h sprint the Corvette ZR1 needs just 3.6 seconds, and pushing it flat out will take you to a top speed of 330km/h.

Corvette ZR-1