SPOTLIGHT: CORVETTE Z06
In Corvette parlance, Z06 is shorthand for race-car-level performance wrapped in a street-legal package. The original Z06 package, circa-’63, was a backdoor entrance to the best competition gear Chevrolet had to offer. It was meant for privateer racers, not the average enthusiast, and was priced accordingly, adding about $1,800 to the base price of a $4,000 Sting Ray.
At the dawn of the 21st century, Z06 Corvettes reemerged as off-the-showroom floor, road-course weapons or the most capable corner-carving street cars, you’d ever set foot in.
Fortunately, after the 2001-’04 C5 Z06, the package didn’t go on hiatus for another 30-plus years as it had before. Instead, the 2006-’13 C6 Z06 raised the stakes higher. It was built on an all-aluminum platform with a lightweight magnesium engine cradle. Bundled in that cradle was a howling, thinly veiled race engine—the LS7 427. The next generation Z06 that arrived with the C7 Corvette, was a little more civilized. It used supercharging to boost power, an eight-speed automatic transmission was available, and a convertible was offered. This was the most popular version of the Z06 ever,