For You Corvette Lovers On Valentine’s Day: The One That Got Away

By
Alex Sommers
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4
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For You Corvette Lovers On Valentine's Day: The One That Got Away

Photo Credit: Naples Motorsports


Most car enthusiasts can point to “the one that got away.” These vehicular obsessions can come about many different ways; maybe you were outbid at auction or you found a car just as someone else was buying it. It could even be a car that you actually owned but had to part ways with, leaving you with a deep sense of regret.

My white whale first came to market in 2013 when I was but 23 years of age and working as a first-year salesman at a Chevrolet dealership in Colorado. The reason it got away is pretty obvious, I couldn’t even come close to affording it at the time but I vowed that I would hunt it down when my future earnings and its depreciation intersected.

For You Corvette Lovers On Valentine's Day: The One That Got Away


The car that nearly put me in the poor house from buying lottery tickets every week in hopes of getting some quick cash was being sold new at Coughlin Chevrolet. The best part is that C7 fever had its claws firmly planted in Corvette Nation at this point so “my car” was being offered at a pretty decent discount.

The details of the car look like this: it was the last C6 ZR1 ever painted in my favorite color, Inferno Orange Metallic. It also had the rare and extremely desirable to yours truly, PDE performance package, black headlight bezels, the top-spec 3ZR interior, and silver brake calipers. We are talking about an extremely unique build here, one that seemed to manifest directly from the hours that I spent on Chevrolet’s configurator at the time, though I traditionally left the calipers blue and added blue stitching to the interior but these are very minor details.

For You Corvette Lovers On Valentine's Day: The One That Got Away


Exactly how rare of a spec was this beauty? “PDE” is one of the rarest RPOs of the entire C6 run.

Only available on 2012 and ’13 ZR1s, the PDE package added ultra-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires, black “Cup” wheels (in combination with the Michelins, these shaved around 18 lbs. from the stock set-up), a more aggressive black-painted spoiler, and updated suspension tuning that resulted in new production car records at Laguna Seca and the Nürburgring where the updated car lapped 7 seconds faster than the 2009 model. Just 375 of these Super-ZR1s were ever produced, which means that only 8% of the 4,684 C6 ZR1’s produced were outfitted with PDE.

Then there is the phenomenal color which was only sprayed on 7 ZR1’s (and two Z06s) in the final year of C6 production. Adding those to the 16 IOM ZRs made in 2012 and there are only 23 cars ever built that even had a chance to be built similarly. If you include the 46 Inferno ZR1s built in 2011, before the emergence of the PDE package, we are still looking at one out of a grand total of 69 C6 ZR1s ever painted bright orange.

For You Corvette Lovers On Valentine's Day: The One That Got Away


“My baby” resurfaced in Florida one year later at a dealership called Naples Motorsports, who took all of the outstanding, and desire-amplifying, pictures that you see here. It was purchased from them in November of 2014 by a fellow named Calvin who apparently houses it in a collection in Michigan. Hopefully, he appreciates it more than its first caretaker and will be willing to part with it someday.

So, there you have it, Corvette fans, the one that I’ll be attempting to track down… eventually. What is THAT car for you? Please share your story in the comments section and best of luck to each of you in getting that ‘Vette into, or back into, your garage!

For You Corvette Lovers On Valentine's Day: The One That Got Away


Source:
Photos by Naples Motorsports

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[VIDEO] C6 Corvette ZR1s Are Let Off the Chain at the Drag Strip

 



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4 COMMENTS

  1. It was a 1967 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe, white exterior with dark green interior. I’ve never seen another one. She had the L79 327 cu in 350 hp engine with a 4-spd and what I would guess were 3:55 gears. I test drove it with the owner and the little coupe hit 100 mph in 3rd gear. I asked the owner how much, He replied $9,100 in 1985. I offered $8,800, no was his answer. This went on for several weeks with neither one budging an inch. To this day I regret no having ponied up the $300 more.

  2. I’ve never had this happen, I buy everything I’m interested in! Cars, motorcycles, guitars, etc. Mostly because I know I will regret it later on if I don’t. Thank goodness I can afford to do so, many people cannot. Life is too short to deprive yourself of something you really want!

  3. Love your story about the one that got away Really want to research my 84’s history only know fo NCM selling dealer was California and I bought 3 years ago private owner in Florida. Please advise how I could tract my cars history. By the way my one that got away was 71 Vert red with white top that I foolishly put high reserve with pressure from now EX husband ‘just curious to see high bid’ on after drove to auction 60 miles away. Yeah someone bought it cash and we had no way home. Still can’t forget that. Anyway if you can give pointers on tracking history I would really appreciate it.

  4. Linda, thank you for chiming in! Sorry to hear about your ’71 Convertible!
    As far as tracking down a car or checking the history on your ’84, I would suggest using CarFax:
    https://www.carfax.com/vehicle-history-reports/
    You can see a lot of information this way (where the car is/was registered, where and how often it was serviced, etc.). I know a guy who (semi-creepily?) keeps tabs on all of his former rides this way.
    You can get one report for $40, three for $60 or 6 for $100.
    If you have any friends at dealerships, they might be able to help you out also, a lot of them have a subscription to CarFax.

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