The 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is here, and it's bonkers. Look closely at the back window and you'll see the person largely responsible for that—Corvette Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter. He's retiring after 47 years at General Motors, and to honor his contributions to the Corvette, the ZR1 features a small Tadge Badge on the glass.
You'll find it on the ZR1's rear window in the upper left corner. It's a small graphic showing a likeness of his head, just like previous C8 Corvettes did with Zora Arkus-Duntov. Juechter won't just be on the ZR1, however. He will be on the windshield and tunnel reinforcement panel for all Corvettes starting with the 2025 model year.
“Tadge made our vehicles and our company better every day that he came to work, for nearly five decades, with his career culminating in the fastest, most powerful Corvette of them all,” GM President Mark Reuss said in a statement. “ZR1, and all Corvettes that follow, will wear this symbol commemorating his immense contributions and celebrating his legacy forever.”
The ZR1's rear glass is special, as it marks the return of the split rear window. Offered solely in 1963, the classic split window is reserved the most coveted 'Vettes. But the ZR1's window isn't merely a callback to the C2 era. With two turbochargers and 1,064 horsepower under the glass, extra reinforcement and venting were needed to handle the power and heat. So it's rather fitting that Juechter's face makes its debut on the ZR1's back window. It's both a reference to Corvette's past, and a key component engineered to make the ZR1 the crazy machine that it is.
How crazy are we talking? The LT7 V-8 spins to 8,000 rpm, and it's more powerful than the F1-derived mill in the Mercedes-AMG One. The ZR1's power-to-weight ratio is better than the Bugatti Veyron. It has 1,200 pounds of downforce. Even so, it's probably not the most insane 'Vette of the C8 era. The rumored Corvette Zora will likely take the ZR1's already ample V-8 and add the E-Ray's hybrid system.
The tribute is a fitting swan song for Tadge's 47-year career. We wish him a happy retirement, though we suspect this isn't the last time his expertise will grace a hot Corvette.
