With all the recent talk about the upcoming 2023 Corvette Z06, today we step back in a different direction and take a look at a virtually new Z06 that’s nearly 30 years old!
This Quicksilver Metallic 2002 Z06’s sole owner has driven the car just 900 miles since taking delivery at a Los Angeles dealership. With six days left in an auction on Bring a Trailer, the high bid is $28,000.
In 1999, Chevy introduced the Corvette Hardtop, the third version of the C5 that was originally supposed to be a budget “every-man” version that would have cloth seats, manual locks, and smaller wheels and tires. With the C5 turning out to be so popular, however, Chevy canceled those “cost-saving” plans and eventually used the hardtop version as the basis for the new Z06 that debuted in 2001 with a 385-horsepower engine.
By the time this 2002 model was produced, Chevy had upped the horsepower to 405, but the LS6 engine remained hooked to a six-speed manual transmission. The engine shared a block casting with the base LS1 engine but added a modified air cleaner, new intake and exhaust manifolds, a unique camshaft profile, higher-rate valve springs, new cylinder heads, higher capacity fuel injectors, and a new PCV system to reduce crankcase pressure.
Increased performance was the ultimate goal for the Z06, and helping to accomplish that mission was the use of weight-saving measures like non-run flat Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires that cut 23.4 pounds off the ordinary coupe and convertible, a titanium exhaust system used for the first in a mass-production car that sliced another 19.0 pounds, cast-spun aluminum wheels that were 1.3 pounds lighter, and even a thinner windshield that saved 2.65 pounds.
The Z06 also looked different on the exterior, with functional brake cooling ducts on the lower rear fenders, stainless steel mesh front fascia grilles, Z06 fender badges, and red brake calipers. We also like the way the car does away with the bubble hatchback and looks like a hardtop convertible instead. Unfortunately, at least in our eyes, because Chevy needed to make the car more rigid, you can’t remove the roof panel the way you can on a standard coupe.
By the way, the Z’s were available in only five colors in 2002: Speedway White, Black, Torch Red, Millennium Yellow, and Quicksilver Metallic.
This example, which has a black interior, had an MSRP of $56,620, with only two options being chosen – $150 for a memory package and $120 for electrochromic mirrors. This is no bargain-basement Corvette, though, as all Z06s came nicely equipped, with standard features such as staggered diameter wheels, active handling, traction control, four-wheel independent suspension, power front/rear disc brakes, power speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion steering, four-wheel ABS, dual-zone electronic air conditioning, power driver’s seat, power door locks and windows, and head-up display.
Included with the sale are a Lojack security system, car cover, service records, and tools. No accidents or other damage have been reported to Carfax, and the car is currently registered Planned Non-Operational in the state of California.
Source:
bringatrailer.com
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Well, good luck with the auction but it almost seems criminal to have this beautiful Corvette to sit unused for so long. Makes me wish I could still walk, I’d bid on it.
Craig — I agree. Why buy a Corvette just to let it sit, and deteriorate, and depreciate? 30 years later it is now worth way less than the owner paid for it, especially once you take into account the time value of money. In fact, if the owner had instead invested that $56,000 30 years ago and earned an annual return of, say, 7%, by now it would have grown to around $450,000 (before tax). Very few brand new cars make sense as a pure investment, even very desirable cars like this one, even without taking into account the associated costs of insurance, storage, periodic maintenance, etc., so if you are going to buy one, for pete’s sake, drive it and enjoy it!!!!
….30 years?? more like 20 years !! I am a C4 man but if a C5 was on my list….it would be the ZO6…..
Leaving the car sitting like that is tantamount to machine abuse! My 2016 C7 is about to cross the 100,000 mile threshold, looks way better than this, and can outperform it in so many ways. And it might even fetch a better price, even with more than 10 times the mileage. Not to mention the fun we’ve derived from driving it across the country several times, the value of which has no price tag.
But ours is not for sale. We are looking forward to the next hundred thousand miles!
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